Julius Baer eyes 1,000 job cuts after Merrill deal

GENEVA -- Swiss private bank Julius Baer says it plans to cut about 1,000 jobs from Merrill Lynch's wealth management operations outside the United States following a deal to buy the unit from Bank Of America.

The Julius Baer Group based in Zurich said in a statement Tuesday its target for reducing staff is "by 15 percent to 18 percent" from approximately 5,700 in 50 locations worldwide _ anywhere from 855 to 1,026 jobs.

The Swiss private banking group has agreed to pay 860 million francs ($879 million) to buy those operations from BofA. The bank says the deal, which is expected to close by early 2013, will boost its assets by about 40 percent, adding around 81 billion francs to the assets it manages.