HONG KONG (Reuters) – French bank BNP Paribas has cut a dozen jobs in mainland China and Hong Kong, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, the latest among global banks to cut staff amid a slowdown. in negotiations in the Chinese market.
Last week, the bank began notifying affected bankers, most of whom work in investment banking and corporate finance roles, according to the source, who did not want to be identified because the information is not public.
BNP’s offices in Hong Kong and mainland China had around 100 employees working on China-related deals before the cut, the source added.
A company spokesperson declined to comment. Bloomberg first reported job cuts at the French bank on Wednesday.
Over the past two years, global investment banks have been reducing staff for deals in China as a slowing economy and stricter regulatory scrutiny of corporate deals and fundraising dampened the market’s revenue potential.
High hopes that China will implement strong stimulus policies that could benefit stock sales have boosted initial public offering launches, but the country’s measures so far have been weaker than expected.
Banks raised $41.5 billion from deals in China’s equity capital markets in the first three quarters of 2024, a 62.5% decline from the same period last year and the lowest total in the first three quarters since 2008, according to LSEG data.
BNP worked on just one Hong Kong stock deal as a bookrunner in the first nine months of this year: a $6.5 million fundraising, ranking 31st among 32 bookrunners, the data shows.
An estimated $9.1 billion in investment banking fees was generated industry-wide in China during the first three quarters of 2024, a 25% decline compared to the same period last year, according to LSEG.
(Reporting by Selena Li and Kane Wu; Editing by Jan Harvey)