National Bank cutting ‘hundreds’ of jobs because of economy, competition

MONTREAL – The National Bank of Canada is eliminating “several hundred” jobs as part of a restructuring resulting from the economic slowdown.

In an internal memo to employees, CEO Louis Vachon also attributed the decision to “increasingly fierce competition.”

The Montreal-based bank did not give a specific figure for the number of job cuts, but said they would mainly affect its Quebec operations.

Vachon said the bank (TSX:NA) will try to minimize the impact on its 17,298 employees through various steps, including retirements and the elimination of vacant positions.

It expects to record an $85-million charge ($64 million after taxes) in the fourth quarter. The restructuring is expected to generate $35 million in pre-tax savings, mainly in 2016.

National, Canada’s sixth largest bank, has reported that profits grew three per cent to $453 million in the third quarter on $1.51 billion of revenues.