According to the Financial Times, Credit Suisse will be trimming its workforce by 10 per cent leading to job loss for 650 employees, while HSBC said it was slashing 500 jobs.

Credit Suisse has been impacted by the loan writedowns, which has led to two quarters of losses for Switzerland's second-largest bank this year, the report said.

A majority of the jobs at Credit Suisse would be cut in the investment banking and the support functions segment.

The report quoted Credit Suisse as saying that it was reacting to market conditions and projected staffing levels required to meet client needs.

The UK's largest bank, HSBC, said it was planning to reduce its UK workforce by more than five per cent at its headquarters in Canary Wharf and other locations, to reduce duplication of work, FT said.

HSBC, which employs about 8,000 people at its headquarters, said that it would shed 500 employees of its head office in areas including finance and legal services, the report added.

However, the union has seen no business rationale for these job cuts and believes that HSBC is using the economic downturn an excuse to reduce employment.

Earlier, HSBC said that it would cut 500 jobs in Asia as part of a shake-up of its global banking and markets division.