UBS Warburg to axe 10% of London derivatives workforce

UBS Warburg, the investment banking arm of Switzerland's UBS, said it plans to cut 10% of its derivatives workforce in London. The bank blamed the poor economic climate for the cuts, which are part of a wider cost-cutting exercise impacting its London-based staff.

A spokeswoman at the bank told RiskNews the cuts would impact staff at all levels of seniority, across all divisions. But she declined to be more specific.

The cuts are part of an overall 10% reduction of all investment banking staff in London. Typically staff culls at leading investment banks in the past year have had less of an impact on derivatives - considered a highly profitable business - compared with other areas of investment banking.