(2 July 2024 – China) Western financial institutions in China have cut their investment banking workforce by the most in years after a market slowdown hit profits and halted years of expansion in the country.
The cuts in 2023 came as five of the seven Chinese securities units that are part of Wall Street and European banks either made a loss or reported tumbling profits, the FT is reporting after reviewing recently released annual reports.
The seven units employed 1,781 people last year, a fall of 13 percent from 2022. China’s capital markets activity has slowed in a weaker economy dominated by a prolonged property slowdown and the fallout from rising geopolitical tension between Washington and Beijing.
International financial groups have been able to take full control of their mainland securities houses since a wave of regulatory changes in 2020. The units represent a small part of the global profits at the banks, which declined to comment.
Banks eliminated more than 60,000 jobs worldwide in 2023, as a decline in dealmaking and public listings caused fees to plummet. The declines in China contrast with earlier hopes that their business in the country would continue to grow even if it slowed elsewhere.
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