CNY HUAT! HUAT! HUAT! Bank Retrenchment Including Singapore begins!

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CIMB cuts 15 jobs in Singapore a week after 50 elsewhere in Asia
Anita GabrielThe Business TimesTuesday, Mar 03, 2015
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IN a dramatic U-turn from its rapid expansion in Singapore, one of its key markets in the region, CIMB Group Holdings cut 15 jobs here on Monday.

The Business Times understands that the layoffs involved the equities side of the business, largely involving institutional sales and to a lesser extent the research unit.

When contacted by BT, CIMB's newly appointed group chief executive and executive director Tengku Zafrul Aziz confirmed the move: "It is not an easy thing to do. I'm restructuring and recalibrating the investment banking business to reflect the new realities of investment banking."

The surprise move by Malaysia's second-largest lender, which is clearly aimed at cutting cost amid a waning equities backdrop and dearth of merger and acquisition deals in the region, comes barely a week after it slashed 50 jobs elsewhere in Asia, namely Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and India.

In early February, CIMB shut its Australian offices, which saw 103 jobs lost.

"We are scaling back, not shutting down the operations within the investment banking business. We will however continue to maintain our top rankings across our franchise," said Mr Zafrul.

BT also understands that Song Seng Wun, regional economist of CIMB Securities, has also been let go. A well regarded figure in the research community, he has served the firm since 1998 - he was then with GK Goh when CIMB bought the broking business in 2005.

But this may not be the end of the road for Mr Song's career with CIMB. When contacted, he alluded that he was presently assessing his options to join the bank, a separate entity within the group.

"We are not alone. The stockbroking landscape has been very tough over the last year," said Mr Song, 54, referring to falling commissions and intensifying competition exacerbated further by the rise in online trading.

CIMB Group's move to slash jobs in Singapore, deemed one of its core markets, takes place against a tough equities backdrop with other big banks having taken similar painful measures to downsize their regional operations namely Standard Chartered, and Japan's Nomura.

That unenviable task is now squarely on the shoulders of CIMB's new boss, Mr Zafrul, who only last week received the nod from Malaysia's central bank to helm the banking group; he succeeds the country's top banker, Nazir Razak, who loosened his grip over the bank last year to assume the chairman's post.

Mr Nazir had led CIMB's rapid expansion since 2004 against a mature Malaysian banking scene, feverishly gobbling up assets across the region to build a formidable Asean brand. But now, CIMB's spate of downsizing across several markets in the region may be necessitated by its aggressive cross-border moves in the past.

"Does CIMB need to be in all of these countries to be "successful"? No," said CLSA in a report issued last month.

"CIMB has spread itself too thin. Its broad strategy and constant distraction by the 'next move' has resulted in the bank being off-the-ball and a subscale presence in many markets," said the research house.

Not all of its plans have been smooth sailing - CIMB's third attempt to merge with RHB Bank in its bid to pip Maybank as Malaysia's largest bank flopped last year after market conditions turned less conducive.

With the merger plan out of the picture, CLSA said CIMB needs to structurally improve revenues, cut costs and manage its asset quality while continuing to hoard some capital to lift its return on equity.

"We need to do what we need to do to manage cost. We need to right size to make (more) money," said Mr Zafrul.


This article was first published on March 3, 2015.
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