UBS is planning to reduce its corporate advisory and investment banking service team to focus on ultra-rich clients in few emerging markets, reported chicagotribune.com citing three sources with the plan.
The bank’s corporate advisory group (CAG) provides advice on mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings, apart from financing options and structured equity products.
The Swiss banking giant currently employs about 2,000 people in investment products and services unit that is overseen by William Kennedy.
The services reduction move comes after a year when CEO Sergio Ermotti said the bank would make most of its profits from its private banking unit. Since then, UBS has axed over 3,000 jobs with most coming from its securities department.
It is expected that most of the CAG restructuring would affect people in the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Asia. Once restructuring is completed, CAG will offer advice on corporate finance activities.
"There were overlaps with the normal investment banking operations and it wasn’t clear what the CAG staff were doing in certain geographies where there were good investment bankers to execute transactions," reported the news source.
