Confirming reports that it was planning to drastically slim down its investment banking division UBS is cutting around 10,000 jobs globally up until 2015. This will help them cut costs and focus on its profitable wealth management business, as it continues to combat challenging conditions particularly in Europe. The changes largely centre on its investment banking division, which will be scaled down to focus on advisory work, research, equities, foreign exchange and precious metals. Much of its fixed income business – which had been made uneconomical by changes in regulation as well as market conditions – will be gradually wound down. Accordingly, by 2015 its global head count would fall to around 54,000 from 64,000, as part a cost cutting drive that will save the bank around 3.4 billion Swiss francs a year.