In Brief: BT Lays Off 20 Workers, With More to Go

Bankers Trust Corp. said Thursday it laid off 20 people from its emerging markets sales and trading desk.

Most of the jobs were related to the bank's activities in Latin American securities, Bankers Trust said.

The $156 billion-asset company now has slashed 54 emerging markets trading jobs.

Last month, Bankers Trust shut down its operations in Mexico City, eliminating 34 jobs there. Bill McBride, a bank spokesman, said additional staff cuts would be made through yearend as the company seeks $300 million of cost savings.

Bankers Trust announced a restructuring last month after it reported a $488 million loss for the third quarter.

Profits were hurt by severe trading losses in emerging markets and in high-yield securities.

Bankers Trust said it expects to have much of its staff cutting done by the end of the first quarter, but it would not enumerate how deep these cuts would be. Analysts said they expect the bank to lay off 10% or more of its 20,000 employees.

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