STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 16 September 2015

[Demeter]

14. European Bankers Can't Catch a Break as Firings Keep Coming

POOR BABIES!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-15/european-bankers-can-t-catch-a-break-as-firings-keep-coming?cmpid=yhoo

Seven years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Europe’s largest banks are poised for more bloodletting.

New management teams at Deutsche Bank AG, Barclays Plc and Standard Chartered Plc are among executives contemplating reorganizations that could involve thousands of job reductions. Deutsche Bank, which runs Europe’s biggest investment bank, may trim 8,000 positions across its businesses, a person familiar with the matter said this week.

Banks are weighing some of the deepest revamps since the financial crisis as stricter capital rules erode trading income and record-low interest rates squeeze margins in consumer banking. That contrasts with the U.S., where banks were quicker to raise capital levels and reduce costs after the 2008 credit crunch and are now profiting from a rebound in the economy.

“The top line at banks is under pressure in the low-yield environment and regulators are taking a relatively severe stance on capital,” said Dirk Sebrechts, who helps manage more than 200 billion euros ($226 billion) at KBC Groep NV in Brussels. “They have to look into their options on costs.”