As Quinn stressed, the job cuts at the bank are to be implemented in the wake of natural departures on the one hand, but on the other hand with sensitivity and empathy. The Asian, European and US areas of investment banking will probably be affected first and foremost, especially the fixed-income area.
This announcement is all the more surprising as the figures for 2019 were not bad at all. It is true that the after-tax net profit for the year shrank by almost half to 5.5 billion euros. By contrast, the major bank recorded growth of 6% in adjusted revenues, which amounted to EUR 51.14 billion. However, Quinn sees a negative development here for the coming months, which he attributed to the protests in Hong Kong and the outbreak of the corona virus.
As Quinn explained during the presentation, costs are to be reduced by around 4.16 billion euros by 2022 – and personnel costs are likely to play a significant role here. In addition, plans are to reduce risk-adjusted assets by 92 billion euros. Wealth Management and the globally positioned Private Banking business will also be merged. All in all, this austerity drive is likely to generate costs of around EUR 5.5 billion.