Merrill's chief Aussie property banker to retire
SYDNEY, June 26 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch's head of Australian property banking, Andrew Kerr, is retiring as part of of worldwide job cuts previously flagged by the Wall Street firm.
Three other investment bankers have been made redundant at Merrill's Australian unit, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Thursday. The job losses were announced earlier this week. Merrill Lynch declined to comment.
Merrill's Australian unit employs some 100 bankers.
Kerr, who is retiring after more than four years with the bank, told Reuters he would pursue other opportunities.
Australian arms of most Wall Street banks have so far emerged relatively unscathed from job cuts announced by the global banks due to writedowns sparked by the credit crisis.
Overall Australian mergers and acquisitions volumes so far this year are down 9.2 percent to $83.8 billion, according to preliminary data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Morgan Stanley topped the list, advising on $29.5 billion worth of deals, followed by Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG.AX) with $27.2 billion.
Total investment banking fees in Australia are down 27 percent so far in 2008 from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data. ($1=A$1.05) (Reporting by Denny Thomas;) ((denny.thomas@reuters.com; +61 2 9373 1812; Reuters Messaging: denny.thomas.reuters.com@reuters.net))
