By: Ken Chase.
Bloomberg reported this week that a decline in investment deals has forced banking giant Citigroup to eliminate dozens of trading personnel in its investment banking division. The move comes in the wake of reports that the company’s investment banking fee earnings plummeted by 64% in the third quarter of 2022.
Many of Citigroup’s competitors have experienced similar declines in investment earnings and have made their own cuts in recent weeks.
For example, Barclays this week began to reduce its workforce by about 200 personnel after reporting a 45% decline in its own investment banking fee earnings compared to last year. At the same time, though, the firm is apparently still hiring in its investment banking division and has reaffirmed its intent to grow that part of its business portfolio.
Reports also suggest that Morgan Stanley may soon reduce its Asian-Pacific workforce by about 50 jobs, and Goldman Sachs is expected to eliminate hundreds of jobs before the end of the year. Analysts have noted that the industry has been under pressure due to volatility in trading and its impact on the capital markets.
