HONG KONG (Reuters) – France’s 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 dealmaking in the Chinese market.
The bank last week began notifying affected bankers, the majority of whom work in investment banking and corporate finance roles, according to the source. They declined to be named because the information is not public.
BNP’s offices in mainland Hong Kong and China employed about 100 employees working on China-related deals before the cut, the source said.
A company spokesperson declined to comment. Bloomberg first reported job losses at the French bank on Wednesday.
Global investment banks have been cutting staff in Chinese operations over the past two years as a slowing economy and tighter regulatory scrutiny of business dealmaking and fundraising have reduced the market’s revenue potential.
High expectations that China will implement strong stimulus policies that could help stock sales have fueled the launch of IPOs, but the country’s measures have so far been weaker than expected.
Banks raised $41.5 billion from deals in China’s equity capital markets in the first three quarters of 2024, down 62.5% from the same period last year and the lowest total in the first three quarters since 2008, according to data from LSEG.
BNP has worked as a bookrunner on just one equity deal in Hong Kong in the first nine months of this year – a $6.5 million fundraising, which ranks it 31st among 32 bookrunners, the data shows.
According to LSEG, the entire Chinese sector generated an estimated US$9.1 billion in investment banking fees in the first three quarters of 2024, a decline of 25% compared to the same period last year.
(Reporting by Selena Li and Kane Wu; Editing by Jan Harvey)