Top Firms Said Preparing To Cut Up To 15% Of Staff

The news agency says that Merrill Lynch is thought likely to cut up to 10,000 jobs as the firm nears its merger with Bank of America, and gets its headcount in line with revenue projections. Morgan Stanley is said to be readying to cut heads, and could take headcount down by as much as 15%. Goldman and JPMorgan's investment banking division are thought to be preparing to cut between 10 - 15% of its staff because of the global economic slowdown.

The New York Post reports that a significant number of Merrill Lynch's US brokers are thought likely to leave the firm as they are said to be unhappy with the (lack of) retention bonuses on offer by Bank of America. The newspaper says that Merrill estimates that up to 15% of the firm's 16,800 financial advisors will leave the firm, as 50% of the salesforce will not be offered a retention bonus. High-performers who generate over $1m in revenues per annum, however, will be given decent incentive packages to ensure that they remain on board.

The Financial Times reports that the Goldman Sachs Investment Partners hedge fund has lost almost $1bn since its launch in January. The fund managers confirmed that they were 'disappointed with our performance'.

Finally, The New York Times reports that David Pajcin, the former Goldman analyst who was convicted of operating a $6.7bn insider trading ring, may have fled the United States. Pajcin was arrested in November 2005. He assisted US prosecutors and was eventually given 3 years probation in consideration of the 2 years he in was held in custody. He is now thought to have left the country, which would be a violation of his parole terms.

Finally, some good news. The Independent reports that Morgan Stanley has officially called time on the bear market. The firm's analysts said in a report issued this week that 'we have now come full circle: our market timing indicators are giving us a full house buy signal. Each of the four indicators - valuation, capitulation, risk, fundamentals - tells us to buy (equities)'.

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