Troubled economy prompts JPMorgan cuts

LONDON, July 4 (UPI) -- JPMorgan Chase is set to decrease its European investment banking workforce by a maximum of 10 percent due to the ongoing credit crisis, a source says.

An unidentified source said the investment banking firm is considerng reductions in its banking staff during this year's third quarter as a reaction to the impact the financial crisis has had on the global banking community, the Financial Times said Friday.

The source said employment cuts began several months ago including layoffs at the investment group Bear Sterns, which JPMorgan acquired in March.

The cuts of the company's acquisitions and debt capital markets businesses comes as other top businesses in the lending industry are making similar employment cuts, the Times said.

Bankers have said to survive the current economic slowdown, most financial groups should cut at least 15 percent of their staff. JPMorgan analysts have predicted a 13 percent decline in banking industry staff by the end of 2008.

The Times said among those other financial groups making such broad employee cuts are Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

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