CIMB said to cut about 50 jobs across Asia

Kuala Lumpur: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., Malaysia's second-largest lender, plans to cut about 50 jobs in Asia to trim costs, people familiar with the plan said.The reductions involve mostly equities-related positions in places including Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and South Korea, the people said, asking not to be named as the plan is not yet public. CIMB's communications department didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comments.

The Kuala Lumpur-based company is reducing costs after previously expanding by purchasing some Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc operations in 2012. Tougher regulations and higher capital requirements are putting pressure on financial firms globally, with Standard Chartered Plc, CLSA Ltd. and Nomura Holdings Inc. among those to cut staff in Asia.

"Banks everywhere are now cutting costs," said Dickie Wong, an executive director of research at Kingston Financial Group in Hong Kong, adding that more reductions loom amid weakness in market sentiment in places including Europe and Southeast Asia.

CIMB, which took part in failed talks for a merger to establish Malaysia's biggest bank, said this month it plans to reduce investment-banking costs by about 30 percent this year in anticipation of slower growth. The latest staff reductions are in addition to CIMB closing its Australian offices, affecting 103 jobs, a move announced Feb. 9.

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CIMB was part of a plan for a three-way merger with RHB Capital Bhd. and Malaysia Building Society Bhd. After the deal was scrapped last month, CIMB said it will seek only minor takeovers as part of its efforts to expand in Southeast Asia.

Standard Chartered said last month that it was shutting its unprofitable institutional equities business globally, eliminating 200 jobs, mostly in Asia. Chief Executive Officer Peter Sands pledged to eliminate about 4,000 consumer banking jobs worldwide as part of a plan to cut $400 million in costs this year.

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Japan's Nomura cut about 12 Asia equities jobs, a person with knowledge of the matter said last month. CLSA Ltd., a Hong Kong-based brokerage, was also trimming staff numbers, another person said. About 25 CLSA staff were affected, mainly in equities, the person said, adding that the reductions amounted to about 2 percent of the firm's global workforce.

Not everyone is cutting. Haitong International Securities Group Ltd., a unit of a Chinese brokerage, said last month that it was looking at hiring more staff in Hong Kong, including workers fired by global firms.

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