Aussie banks focus on job cuts as inquiry looms

Sydney

AUSTRALIA'S big banks are responding to a revenue crunch by cutting jobs and other costs, prompting fears on the eve of an inquiry into their businesses that the industry's tarnished reputation is about to take another hit.

Regulators' demands that banks hold more capital and their scrutiny into internal operations have made cost cuts the in-vogue metric at the so-called Big Four banks - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp - to boost profits.