The Germans are not yet done firing employees in Asia. Deutsche Bank fired around a third of the staff in its Asia equity derivatives business on Tuesday, as part of a global cost savings plan announced on July 31, according to sources familiar with the matter. Just over 20 people remain in the division, down from a number in the mid 30s, according to one source, as Deutsche Bank and others seek to cut costs in businesses that are failing to generate adequate revenues as the global economy slows. The bank let go five traders, four product structurers and at least one salesperson from the division, the sources said, adding that the numbers were not yet finalised because the discussions were continuing...These cuts follow on the heels of layoffs in June in Deutsche Bank's Asian equities business, which like its counterparts at other firms globally has been struggling this summer due to slack trading volumes and a sharp decline in new share issuance. Deutsche Bank cuts a third of jobs in Asia equity derivs [Reuters]

The Germans are considering sending some bankers to live on a farm upstate, where there's plenty of fresh air and room to run around. Europe’s biggest bank by assets, is considering cutting about 1,000 positions at its investment bank as revenue declines, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The cuts will be mostly outside Germany, where the firm’s investment banking operations are focused, said the person, who asked not be identified as Deutsche Bank’s plan hasn’t been made public. [Bloomberg]

The Germans are "going on a diet" that will involve a "painstaking, methodical, meticulous approach to boosting efficiency" and "very significantly streamlining" in the investment bank and no one, not even the people hiding out in Chicago are safe. "Yet more DB cuts: 3 directors, 1 managing director and 1 vp in Chicago last week." [MarketWatch]

The bad news is that Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, UBS, and others have been making cuts and are expected to continue to do so. The good news is that not everybody is upset about it. Speaking to bankers and other industry sources, Reuters was able to confirm at least 50 people were let go in the past three weeks, a cull that includes senior expatriates as well as junior bankers. The cuts mainly target the equities business, with more layoffs expected in coming weeks. CLSA , Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and UBS were among the banks and brokerages that cut jobs, the sources said...The Asia cuts also come at an unexpected time, when expatriate finance professionals are preparing to hunker down for the summer while their families head home for the holiday. "I'm disappointed, but in some ways I'm glad I was cut early in this round, because everyone is looking over their shoulder," said Cassandra Lister, who was recently let go as a managing director at Societe Generale in Hong Kong. "They're looking around and wondering 'Am I next?' It's a horrible work environment." Asia's Investment Banks Launch Round Of Job Cuts [Reuters]

Project New BAC continues, only now that it's worked out some of the initial kinks, management is going to fire people a lot faster that before. Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan, 52, is relying on expense cuts to improve profit as mortgage losses and regulation squeeze revenue. The earlier phase of his efficiency plan, called Project New BAC, targeted $5 billion in costs and 30,000 jobs...The lender had 275,460 employees at June 30, compared with 278,688 on March 31 and about 288,000 at the end of last year’s second quarter. The number of banking centers in the U.S. fell by 148 in the 12 months ended June 30 to 5,594...The new round of cost cuts will come at a faster rate than the first phase, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said today on the call. The $3 billion in savings will probably be realized at about $1 billion per year, he said. Moynihan told employees in January that he expected Project New BAC to eliminate a total of $6 billion to $8 billion a year in expenses, Bloomberg News reported. The bank said today it’s on track to realize $1 billion of the cost savings from the first phase by the end of this year. [Bloomberg]

The company is still in the firing phase of the rebuilding process. Nomura Holdings cut a team of London proprietary traders focused on stocks as Japan’s largest brokerage scales back in Europe, said two people with knowledge of the matter. The group of about five traders was part of Nomura’s Angel Lane Principal Strategies, a unit that makes speculative wagers on markets with capital provided by the Tokyo-based bank, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the job cuts haven’t been announced. The team departing this week was led by Anthony Medina, a volatility trader who used options to bet on fluctuations in the prices of stocks, the people said. The departures are part of Nomura’s plan to reduce costs by $1 billion, with almost half the savings coming from Europe. The revamp in strategy follows a four-year struggle to build a business overseas following the purchase of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s European and Asian units in 2008. Nomura Said To Cut Team Of Proprietary Traders Focused On Stocks [Bloomberg]

These things take time. Deutsche Bank is eliminating about 85 jobs at its Japan and Hong Kong equities units as Europe’s widening debt crisis curbs economic growth in Asia. The bank cut about 15 positions in Tokyo yesterday, and plans to tell 30 employees in equity research, sales and trading today that they will be dismissed, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The Frankfurt-based company trimmed 40 jobs in Hong Kong yesterday, according to another person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. [Bloomberg]