Natixis plans to cut 277 investment-bank jobs

PARIS Jan 13 (Reuters) - French bank Natixis plans to cut 277 jobs at its corporate and investment banking division, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday, as banks scale back lending to cope with the euro zone debt crisis.

Natixis, which was rescued from near-collapse during the 2008 financial crisis by a government-backed merger of its retail cooperative parents, has already made deep cuts to its balance sheet under new management but plans to go further.

"It's 127 in France and 150 abroad at the investment bank," the spokeswoman said, commenting on the number of job cuts planned.

The numbers pale in comparison with the thousands of cuts planned at bigger domestic peers BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole. Natixis' investment bank, which is smaller, employs around 4,400 people.

There will be no layoffs involved as the bank is relying on retirees, internal moves and other "natural" departures, the spokeswoman added.

Natixis, France's fourth-biggest listed bank, met with union representatives earlier to unveil the plan for job cuts and to add that there would be a hiring freeze for 2012 and possibly 2013, according to union sources.

"There's going to be a hiring freeze across Natixis ... It will be for 2012, and they said even in 2013 if necessary," said a union representative who attended the meeting. Another union source confirmed the information.

The Natixis spokeswoman declined to comment. (Reporting by Matthieu Protard and Lionel Laurent; Editing by James Regan)