KUALA LUMPUR: There will be no more job cuts for the CIMB Group's Malaysian and Indonesian outfit this year, said group chief executive Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz.
"We will not have anymore mutual separation scheme (MSS) or retrenchment in the Malaysian and Indonesian outfits this year," he said during the press conference for the "CIMB Asean Stock Challenge 2015 Regional Champion" announcement.
"As it is, we have let go of some 3,000 people from the MSS and that's already good for us, operational-wise. We are no longer looking to let go of people from our Malaysian and Indonesian operations."
The group had in May last year carried out the MSS exercise for its Malaysian and Indonesia operations, which saw some 5,000 people applying and 3,000 were granted.
Foreign media had last week reported that CIMB's Hong Kong arm had laid off 32 employees from its cash equities and investment banking divisions.
The report described the cuts as part of a three-year programme to restore earning growth by squeezing costs and making efficiencies, but not part of a gradual withdrawal from investment banking and equities in North Asia.
The cuts represent about 20 per cent of IB and equities staff in the region; thus leaving a total of 110 bankers in the bank's investment banking and cash equities divisions in Hong Kong.