Hopes that Asia's leading financial centres would escape the worst of the global economic downturn have been dashed in recent days as local and overseas financial institutions step up redundancy programmes across the region.
Last week, Credit Suisse announced plans to cut 11 per cent of its global workforce, focused on its investment banking division. The move will be keenly felt in centres such as Hong Kong and Singapore, where several hundred Credit Suisse bankers will lose their jobs in the new year.
The Swiss bank's announcement follows that of Citigroup, which last month unveiled plans to slash 52,000 jobs worldwide. The US bank is a leading employer across Asia and its decision to downsize will result in thousands of redundancies in the region.