UBS could lay off 1,900 bankers

UBS, one of the biggest European victims of the credit crunch, is expected to announce another round of job cuts, with speculation that a further 1,900 investment bankers could go.

The news comes as Lehman's started cutting more than of a fifth of its investment bankers in London yesterday, after cutting 750 staff at its fixed-income unit on Tuesday.

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The giant Swiss banking group UBS is holding an extraordinary general meeting today to confirm the appointment of four new members of the board, and also to approve the bank's new corporate governance rules.

Reports emerged yesterday that the group could announce, as early as today's meeting, further cuts amounting to 10 per cent of its investment banking staff. This follows 7,000 jobs that have already been lost at the group.

In August, UBS announced its total write downs following the credit crunch had hit $43bn (£24bn), and recorded losses of SFr25.7bn (£13bn). At the time total staff numbers stood at 81,400

A spokesman for the group declined to comment on the job cuts, but one insider said: "In this environment, banks are looking at this the whole time."