BNP may cut less than 30 fixed income staff-source

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas SA (BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) may lay off less than 30 fixed income employees if talks about their possible redeployment to other businesses fall through, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

France's biggest listed bank said in a statement: "Like many in the current market conditions, we are reviewing resource levels in selected areas of fixed income and as a result may have to make redundancies in our credit activities."

BNP Paribas added that it continues to selectively hire additional fixed income staff.

The bank is talking to those who may be laid off, the source said. The bank's fixed income business employs 1,600 and is headquartered in London.

One of the first European banks to sound alarms over the risk posed by exposure to U.S. subprime home loans last August, BNP Paribas has since weathered the crisis better than many European peers. It gave a confident 2008 outlook in February despite posting lower fourth-quarter profits.

European banks, including Credit Suisse Group (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and UBS AG (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), have cut jobs this year. (Reporting by Simon Falush and Olesya Dmitracova; Editing by David Holmes)