5 Banks With Looming Layoffs

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Along with first quarter earning revenue declines, many banks are announcing layoffs and restructurings of business units.

Bank of America (BAC) is laying off 1,500 loan processors and underwriters as it closes 200 of its small loan fulfillment centers. The layoffs come as the bank expects its mortgage loan volumes to drop by 25 percent this year from last and it looks to cut its expenses.

Layoffs in the centers have already commenced. In California 128 employees were notified of layoffs in April, according to the Los Angeles Times. The bank also laid off 34 people in Saratoga Springs, in an effort to close the facility in July, according to The Business Review.

In addition the bank is laying off 2,000 contractors, according to The Wall Street Journal. The bank cut 12 technology and operations jobs in Charlotte, N.C., according to The Charlotte Observer. The bank also cut its partnership with 157 First Data Technologies employees that were working in a Banc of America Merchant Services' Louisville call center , according to Business First.

Bank of America has been trimming jobs in its consumer and small business units as part of a wider restucturing.

Wells Fargo (WFC) is laying off 4,500 retail mortgage employees due to declines in mortgage revenue. Wells Fargo notified 1,700 people in early April that their jobs would be eliminated during the second quarter.

The bank's mortgage banking income fell $741 million from the fourth quarter of 2010 to $2.02 billion. As the bank improves its foreclosure practices as part of the foreclosure settlement and settles mortgage putbacks, it is possible more layoffs could follow.

"While we may reduce staff in some areas, we are also hiring in other areas. For example, in our annual report, it said we had 6,500 open jobs at the end of 2010. We are hiring," said a Wells Fargo spokesperson told TheStreet of the layoffs.

First Niagara (FNFG) recently closed its deal with NewAlliance.

The NewAlliance deal is expected to result in 219 layoffs in Connecticut. CEO John Koelmel said that so far the integration has been on track.

It has been our smoothest conversion and initial integration," said Koelmel in an interview with TheStreet.

Even though the bank is conducting layoffs in Connecticut, it is hiring in New York and wants to add 500 more employees by 2016, according to Hartford Business.

Capital One (COF) is laying off 62 customer service employees in its bank loss mitigation department at its office in Plano, Texas.

A spokesman told the Dallas Business Journal that the bank is consolidating some of its operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Lloyds Banking Group (LYG) is conducting layoffs as part of its ongoing restructuring of the business.

The bank recently laid off 325 employees as part of its "ongoing integration," according to The Guardian. The latest cuts were in the business support functions and wholesale and group operations in the UK.

Lloyds may also be selling a majority stake in UK wealth management boutique, which could mean more bank layoffs, according to Financial News.

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--Written by Maria Woehr in New York.



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