http://www.silverdoctors.com/bill-murphy-jpmorgan-silver-scandal-to-finally-break/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9643500/UBS-bankers-in-London-head-for-the-pub-after-being-turned-away-at-office-door.html
and....
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2012/10/30/1237771/the-ubs-cull-begins/
BILL MURPHY: JPMORGAN SILVER SCANDAL TO FINALLY BREAK
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9643500/UBS-bankers-in-London-head-for-the-pub-after-being-turned-away-at-office-door.html
It was only when the UBS bankers had their passes refused that they realised they could be out of a job. Instead of being allowed into the bank’s City headquarters the traders were whisked to special offices on the fourth floor where they were handed an envelope containing details of the redundancy process.
“It was like a scene out of the Village of the Damned up there,” said one of the bankers.
“They said we would be getting two weeks paid leave and then we will be told what is to happen. I expect we’ll just get a call from human resources or lawyers telling us how much we are worth. We won’t be able to talk to our bosses.”
Turned away from their offices, the bankers congregated in The Railway Tavern, one of the only pubs in the area to open at 8am.
“We were banging on the door,” said one. “Today is for drinking, tomorrow is for thinking about our careers,” added another.
Along with pints of premium lager and Guinness what the bankers were digesting was news this morning that the bank was to cut 10,000 jobs from its global workforce.
Although the bank failed to detail who many of its 6,500 London-based employees would be lost, scores were not allowed into the bank today, instead being placed on “special leave.”
“Dear colleague,” the private and confidential letter started. “You will not be required to continue to perform you current duties at this time…”
The impersonal letter and the manner they were treated was seen by some as an insult, by others as a natural result of current economic and political conditions.
“It is about regulation, about politics, Switzerland demands the highest capital ratios, around, 18pc,” explained one of the bankers who asked to remain anonymous.
“They are just shutting down the capital intensive side of the business. Switzerland has lost all appetite for risk.”
The job cuts in London came as the bank announced it aimed to cut costs by SFr3.4bn (£2.2bn) by 2015. The bank, which is also facing the embarrassment of former trader Kweku Adoboli’s rogue trading trial, announced a loss of SFr2.17bn in the three months to the end of September.
UBS said it had taken a one-time charge of SFr3.1bn linked to its restructuring plans and a debt-related charge of SFr863m.
and....
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2012/10/30/1237771/the-ubs-cull-begins/
The Swiss bank seems to have wasted no time in starting the cost cutting programme it officially announced on Tuesday morning, but which the FT had heard about on Friday. Some people learnt of the headcount reductions in the worst possible way when they tried to enter their offices on Tuesday morning, only to discover their passes weren’t working.
Our hedge fund sources also tell us that many of their UBS contacts “have red dots on their B’berg” this morning, meaning they’re not logged in. It sounds like sales staff have generally been the first to go.
From Tuesday’s FT:
Some of the Swiss lender’s fixed income traders discovered that their passes were no longer working when they tried to get to work at its Finsbury Avenue offices on Tuesday morning, bank insiders said…“I was glad to see that my pass was working this morning,” said one banker who made it into the offices.
The bank said on Tuesday morning that it will make some SFr3.4bn in cost savings by 2015, and confirmed that it would dramatically shrink its investment bank, cutting 10,000 jobs. Those cost savings themselves come with a Sfr3.3bn price tag in terms of restructuring charges over the same time period.
At the end of it all, UBS will be focused around its wealth management business, and supported by a smaller investment bank specialising in equities trading, foreign exchange, precious metals, advisory work and research activities, according to the press release.
The investment bank’s fixed income operations, which UBS says have been made unprofitable by tougher capital requirements, are to be split off into a non-core unit and gradually wound down.
From the bank (our emphasis):
The lines of business to be exited will include many that do not meet their cost of capital sustainably or are in areas with high operational complexity or long tail risks likely to weigh on future returns. Exited businesses and positions will be transferred to, and reported in, the Corporate Center from the first quarter of 2013. An experienced team, led by Carsten Kengeter, has been appointed to manage the exited businesses and positions to optimize risk and returns over time. This team will manage the sale or exit of these positions within the robust oversight structure that has successfully supported our risk-weighted asset reduction in the Legacy Portfolio.
It summed up its balance sheet targets as such, and made a mention of some debt buy-backs:
- UBS’s Basel III total capital requirements are expected to decline to 17.5%, down from 19% reflecting targeted reductions in risk-weighted assets and balance sheet
- As a result of targeted balance sheet reductions UBS anticipates a 30% reduction in its funding requirements. Lower funding requirements will allow UBS to buy back debt
- Group RoE expected to average in the mid-single digits in 2013 and 2014
As has been reported, the bank wants to slash headcount by 10,000 to around 54,000 by 2015. CEO Sergio P. Ermotti said on Tuesday:“This decision has been a difficult one, particularly in a business such as ours that is all about its people. Some reductions will result from natural attrition and we will take whatever measures we can to mitigate the overall effect. Throughout the process we will ensure that our people will be supported and treated with care.”However, it seems to us that the cuts have started with plenty of gusto already.The markets, however, are liking the cost cutting, partly because the bank’s Q3 resultswere broadly better than consensus expectations. Stock is off its morning highs but still up 3.1 per cent at pixel time.