By Rishav Chatterjee
(Reuters) - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC:CMWAY), the country's biggest lender, could cut up to 200 jobs, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, but did not divulge further information the layoffs.
The layoffs could end up being a "couple of hundred" and the CBA's ongoing consultations could mean some employees would be redeployed into some other roles, the source said, requesting to be unnamed as they were discussing confidential information.
In mid-June, CBA's smaller peer Westpac Banking (NYSE:WBK) Corp laid off 300 jobs in its consumer and business banking segments.
The Australian Financial Review, which first reported of CBA's job cuts, said the bank was cutting about 251 jobs across its information technology, business bank and retail banking units to reduce costs.
A spokesperson for CBA, which employs around 50,000 people globally, declined to confirm the news but said there were no reductions to customer-facing employees.
"As part of our focus on business improvement, we regularly review the skills we need and how we are organised. That means from time to time, some roles and work can change or may no longer be required," the spokesperson said.
CBA's net profit after tax was about A$2.60 billion in the March quarter, up from A$2.40 billion a year ago.