In March, the bank said it would accelerate its cost-cutting and shrink its investment bank, with Mr. Thiam saying<br />that the size of the positions on the bank’s trading book “was a surprise for a number of people and was not a widely known fact.”<br />In December, the bank said that it would further reduce costs by an additional 1 billion Swiss francs.<br />The job reductions, in addition to 7,000 positions eliminated last year, come as the Zurich-based bank, like much of the industry, struggles with low interest rates around the globe<br />and a lack of confidence among investors for much of last year cut into its results.<br />After joining the bank in 2015, Mr. Thiam announced plans to raise $6.3 billion in new capital<br />and reduce its costs by billions of dollars by the end of 2018.<br />“We will not relent on the pace of cost reductions going forward,” Mr. Thiam said during a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.<br />The bank also reported an annual loss of 2.4 billion Swiss francs, or $2.39 billion, for 2016.
