UBS tipped to axe almost 2,000 jobs

UBS AG, the European bank with the biggest losses from the credit crisis, plans to eliminate about 1,900 jobs in its investment banking, equities, and fixed income units, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The bank may announce the plans at today's shareholder meeting, according to the people, who declined to be identified because they weren't authorized to discuss the cuts, which would amount to about 10 percent of the total investment banking staff. Support staff jobs will also go, the people added. Rohini Pragasam, a UBS spokeswoman in New York, declined to comment.

UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, is scaling back its investment banking unit, which it plans to separate from wealth and asset management after mounting writedowns prompted rich clients to withdraw funds for the first time in almost eight years.