HONG KONG (Reuters) – BNP Paribas has cut around a dozen jobs in mainland China and Hong Kong, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, joining other major global banks cutting staff in the country, a context of slowing transactions on the Chinese market.

Last week, BNP Paribas began notifying affected bankers, the majority of whom hold positions in investment banking and corporate finance, according to this source.

BNP’s mainland offices in Hong Kong and China had around 100 employees working on China-related transactions before the cuts, the source added.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the bank declined to comment.

Bloomberg first reported the job cuts on Wednesday.

Major global banks have cut staff in China over the past two years amid an economic slowdown and tighter regulatory oversight of deals and fundraising, hampering revenue potential in the market.

Although hopes of rigorous stimulus policies likely to boost China’s stock market have supported IPOs, the country’s measures so far have been weaker than expected.

Banks raised $41.5 billion (39.07 billion euros) from China’s capital markets (ECM) in the first three quarters of 2024, down 62.5% from the same period. period last year, according to LSEG data. This is the lowest total for the first three quarters since 2008.

In the first nine months of this year, BNP worked on just one Hong Kong equity market transaction as bookrunner, a $6.5 million fundraising, ranking 31st among 32 bookrunners. book, according to this data.

Investment banking activities in China generated a total of $9.1 billion in fees during the first three quarters of 2024, according to LSEG, a decline of 25% year-on-year.

(Reporting by Selena Li and Kane Wu, Bertrand De Meyer, editing by Augustin Turpin)

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