BofA to cut "a couple of hundred" jobs

[WASHINGTON] Bank of America Corp is planning" a couple of hundred" job cuts at its global banking and markets unit, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The bank could announce the layoffs as early as Tuesday, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Bank of America, which had about 216,700 full-time employees as of June 30, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Investment banks have been known to axe jobs at this time of year, just ahead of bonus season.

Bank of America's third-quarter trading revenue may fall between 5 per cent and 6 per cent due to weakness in its fixed income business, Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said at a conference less than two weeks ago.

Mr Moynihan, known within the bank as a problem-fixer and a cost-cutter, had previously said the trading business would need to trim expenses if results did not improve.

Bond trading has been under pressure since the financial crisis as new rules discourage banks from trading off their own balance sheet and regulators demand that banks boost capital.

Recent concerns over the slowing Chinese economy and the Greek debt crisis are expected to further cut into banks'trading volumes.

During the second quarter, bond trading revenue at every major bank, with the exception of Morgan Stanley, declined from a year earlier.

REUTERS