UBS to Shrink Investment Bank

In light of recent market conditions, a UBS announcement said its Investment Bank will be undergoing seriously “repositioning.’ More specifically, the Swiss banks plans to exit its commodities operation, and downsize its real estate and securitization operation and proprietary trading.

The bank said it plans to “build on its Equities business by leveraging its strengths in cash distribution, derivatives, and prime services, while seeking further efficiency gains.’ It plans to “reposition’ its Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities (FICC) business to focus more on client servicing and facilitation.

The bank said the job cuts will be targeted in the downsized areas. The new cuts will bring the number of job cuts at UBS to about 6,000 since the third quarter of 2007, according to the release.

“A right-sized Investment Bank, positioned alongside the world’s premier Wealth Management and leading institutional Asset Management business, will enable UBS to position itself as one of the core group of universal banks that are likely to dominate in this redrawn landscape,’ said Jerker Johansson, chairman and CEO of UBS Investment Bank, in the statement.