As part of its ongoing restructuring, Credit Suisse is said to be cutting 10 percent of its investment bankers in Europe.

Having already cut hundreds of jobs, the axe is now falling on European investment bankers at Credit Suisse with the unit said to be facing a 10 percent reduction in dealmakers this year, according to a story in the «Financial Times» (behind paywall) citing people familiar with the matter.

Credit Suisse employs about 17,000 investment bankers worldwide, with the main centers in New York and London. Overall, Credit Suisse plans to cut 9,000 roles globally in the next three years from around 52,000.

The job cuts are not specific to Credit Suisse. Last week Goldman Sachs began laying off more than 3,000 employees, foreshadowing an expected wave of job cuts at investment banks around the globe.

In some of Credit Suisse's smaller European offices, up to a third of jobs are threatened as the bank restructures its businesses to eliminate overlap and front-office positions, according to the «FT».

Focus on the US

Many investment bankers unaffected by the job cuts at Credit Suisse's New York office, its main hub outside Europe, face the prospect of joining the planned spinoff of First Boston, led by former Credit Suisse director Michael Klein, according to the report. The transaction is not without controversy, as finews.com reported.  

«The buying of the business of Mr. Klein by Credit Suisse, if confirmed, does raise serious issues in terms of corporate governance,» Vincent Kaufmann, CEO of Swiss shareholder rights advocacy group Ethos Foundation, told finews.com. Kaufmann sees obvious conflicts of interest on several fronts since Klein was represented on both sides of the transaction.

What is less certain is the status of investment banking positions in Europe, with First Boston expected to focus on the US market.

Bonus Pool

Another lever to control costs is cutting the bonus pool, which was reduced by a third last year. Few Credit Suisse investment bankers expect a bonus this year, as the bank has announced a full-year loss for next month.

However, management is eager to offer incentives to asset managers with close personal relationships with clients to prevent them from leaving for competitors, as well as employees working on important projects, according to the report.

Credit Suisse would not comment on the prospect of further job cuts or its bonus policy to the news outlet.