Goldman's equities unit may see bigger cuts

GOLDMAN Sachs Group Inc will begin its annual job cutting process as early as this week, according to sources familiar with the matter, with its equities-trading business bracing for bigger cuts than fixed-income trading.

The bank usually culls out the weakest 5 percent of its employees around now. But the cuts will likely be deeper in some businesses, particularly equities trading, where volumes and earnings are weak. The number of shares traded on major US exchanges so far this year is down 7.2 percent.

Fixed-income trading at Goldman, which took big hits last year but has had better volumes this year, may see cuts of under 5 percent, the sources said.

Cuts across the bank will be in line with Goldman's typical 5 percent culling, one source said.

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