UK capital likely to be hit hard by Deutsche Bank job cuts

London is likely to be at the sharp end of 18,000 job cuts at Deutsche Bank's investment banking wing.

The German bank has given few details of where the axe will fall geographically, saying only that it wants to shrink its investment banking business to make it "leaner and stronger". But, with around 8,000 people working for Deutsche Bank in the UK capital which, along with the company's offices in New York, handles most of the company's share-trading activities, the impact of the job losses on London is likely to be significant.

The company said in a statement that London will continue to have an important role.

"We will retain a significant presence here and remain a close partner to our UK clients and to international institutions that want to access the London market," it said.

Christian Sewing, Deutsche Bank's chief executive, told reporters in a conference call on Monday morning that the job losses were "painful but unavoidable to ensure the bank's long-term success".

"If we can't compete with the best, we won't be in the game," he added.

The BBC reported on Monday that teams of share traders in Tokyo had been told they would be losing their jobs. The broadcaster said some workers in London learned on Monday they would lose their access to the company's prestigious building in central London but it said they had not been told specifically they were losing their jobs.

Reuters reported that an equities trader in Hong Kong said on Monday: "There is hardly any work getting done today and folks are just mailing or calling friends or headhunters. Half of the floor is gone and others are just waiting to be called in."

The company plans to cut its global workforce to 74,000 people by 2022 in a reorganization that it expects to cost 7.4 billion euros ($8.3 billion).

Bloomberg said some analysts believe the cost of the restructuring may end up exceeding the company's estimates, and it said some experts think the bank's new targets may be too ambitious.

A spokesperson for the Frankfurt-headquartered bank said: "We have decided to focus our resources on businesses where clients need us most. We are setting up a dedicated corporate bank specializing in the financing and treasury products the world's companies need to support trade and investment around the globe.Deutsche Bank will remain an international bank. That's what our clients need."

Investment banking is dominated by US companies, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley. If Deutsche Bank ends up with a diminished role in the sector, Barclays could become the last European bank to compete at the highest level with the US companies.

The New York Times noted that the reorganization may be Deutsche Bank's last opportunity to arrest a decade-long decline and said one-third of the management board are likely to leave as part of the overhaul, while more than $300 billion in risky assets will be quarantined into a separate entity.

Shares in Deutsche Bank were down nearly 2 percent by mid-morning on Monday.