Standard Chartered Bank yesterday said it will cut 200 jobs in Hong Kong - about 4 percent of the group's local work force. The bank has over 5,000 staff in the territory.

The UK-based lender said the decision was taken in view of the global economic turmoil and to streamline its operation.

The bank added that those who have been made redundant are from various divisions of the bank.

The lender, however, will not cut salaries and bonus will be given on the staff's performance, it said.

It will also try to redeploy some staff to minimize the impact.

Standard Chartered, which reaps most of its profits from emerging markets including Asia, Africa and Middle-East, said last month it would defer its hiring plans in Hong Kong as the city slipped into an economic recession.

Banks and brokerages worldwide have announced more than 166,000 job cuts since the subprime-mortgage market's collapse last year. Citigroup, the largest bank in US by assets, made the biggest job cut trimming 52,000 jobs last month.

Standard Chartered's home rival, HSBC Holdings, slashed 450 jobs in Hong Kong last month.

Singapore's top lender DBS bank cut 900 jobs in its key markets.

The lender's stock price closed at HK$89.5 yesterday, down 7.73 percent.

(HK Edition 12/03/2008 page2)