First Franklin Financial Corp. has closed a loan processing office in Campbell, Calif., and reduced the staff at its San Jose headquarters.
Bill Halldin, a spokesman for Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., which owns the wholesale subprime lender, said on Friday that the reductions were made that week but declined to say how many jobs were affected.
"We've adjusted our staffing levels to be in line with current business requirements," he said.
First Franklin has 27 other loan processing offices around the country.
Merrill bought First Franklin from National City Corp. for $1.3 billion at the end of last year as a part of an effort to vertically integrate its mortgage business. In March, the company said it was consolidating some loan processing operations. At the time, Mr. Halldin said no sales jobs would be affected and that it was "unclear how many jobs" would "be cut."
