LONDON - The Swiss bank Julius Baer announced on Tuesday that it would cut up to 1,000 jobs in an effort to reduce costs.
The announcement follows the Swiss bank's agreement in August to buy the private banking operations outside the United States and Japan of Bank of America Merrill Lynch for around $880 million.
As part of its plan to integrate the business, Julius Baer said it now expected to reduce the bank's combined 5,700 workforce by between 15 percent and 18 percent.
The layoffs, which could total 1,026 staff, are expected to begin after the deal closes early next year.
The deal for the Bank of America unit is part of Julius Baer's expansion into new markets as it looks to keep pace with Swiss rivals like UBS and Credit Suisse.
The acquisition would give Julius Baer up to an additional $74 billion of assets, which primarily come from wealthy clients in developing economies.
“This acquisition brings us a major step forward in ou r growth strategy and will considerably strengthen Julius Baer's leading position in global private banking by adding a new dimension not only to growth markets but also to Europe,†the company's chief executive, Boris Collardi, said in August.
The expected job cuts, however, are an effort to reduce costs at the new unit, which reported a $30 million net loss in the first half of the year, according to a investor presentation released on Tuesday.
Julius Baer also said on Tuesday that its total assets under management as of Aug. 31 rose 8 percent, to 184 billion Swiss francs, or $196 billion, since the end of 2011.
In morning trading in Zurich, shares in Julius Baer had fallen less than 1 percent.
