By Lisa Jucca
ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss bank Credit Suisse
In an update on its fourth-quarter performance, the bank said the loss, primarily in investment banking, where most of the job cuts will fall, was due to adverse market conditions and risk reduction.
In addition, it will take a restructuring charge of 900 million Swiss francs, mostly in the fourth quarter.
"Investment banking had a significant pretax loss, reflecting the challenging conditions in the financial markets in the quarter and the costs associated with risk reduction," the bank said in a statement.
Credit Suisse said most of the job cuts, representing 11 percent of total headcount, would take place by the end of the first half of 2009.
In November alone it said it was modestly profitable.
It also said its private banking segment was still seeing asset inflows and the bank had hired 370 relationship managers this year.
Credit Suisse has so far managed the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression without state aid, but hefty losses at its investment banking division dragged it to a 1.3 billion Swiss franc loss in the third quarter.
It has already 1,800 jobs this year and said this week it would cut 650 investment banking jobs in Britain. A source at the bank also said on Wednesday it would axe another 170 jobs in Asia.
Shares in Credit Suisse have lost nearly 30 percent in a month, including 9 percent on Wednesday.
Traders say investors are looking more critically at Credit Suisse since rival UBS
"For a long time it looked like Credit Suisse was Mr Clean as far as the credit and finance crisis was concerned, but the latest market turbulence has shown that both of the major (Swiss) banks are affected," a trader said.
(Editing by Will Waterman)
