JPMorgan Cazenove cuts 2 percent of staff

LONDON (Reuters) - JPMorgan Cazenove, a joint venture of JPMorgan and Cazenove, is to lay off almost two percent of staff on Thursday as the UK-focused stockbroker anticipates slower business next year, people familiar with the matter said.

People made redundant were mainly in the research and the trading departments, the sources said.

The joint venture sold its Asian operations to Standard Chartered (STAN.L) earlier this month.

JPMorgan Cazenove declined to comment.

The joint venture, which employs 600 staff in London and 800 people globally, is the latest bank to reduce headcount as an economic downturn deepens.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) is cutting 10 percent of its 30,000 global investment banking staff following its acquisitions of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual.

U.S. bank Citi (C.N) announced in mid-November a plan to cut 50,000 jobs, or about 14 percent of its employees worldwide, to compress expenses by one-fifth.

Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) plans to cut 900 jobs by the end of this year, while Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) are each cutting around 10 percent of their headcounts.

(Reporting by Daisy Ku)