Trading firm KCG to cut staff, shut offices
NEW YORK • Trading firm KCG Holdings, which Virtu Financial is buying for more than US$1.3 billion (S$1.8 billion), is cutting 10 per cent of its staff and shutting offices in Mumbai and Singapore by the end of this week, sources said.
The company will also stop trading currencies for clients and withdraw almost entirely from making markets in European exchange-traded funds.
KCG, hurt by diminished volatility in markets, has slashed the number of employees since the company's 2013 birth via the merger of high-speed trader Getco and brokerage Knight Capital Group. Headcount peaked at 1,229 three years ago before dwindling to 923 at the end of March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
BLOOMBERG
Fall in British retail sales growth in May
LONDON • British retail sales growth faded away this month after an April surge, as worries about the outlook among major chains increased at the fastest rate since 2012, a survey showed yesterday.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) survey added to signs that consumer spending - a main driver of the British economy - is wilting in the face of rising inflation since last year's Brexit vote.
Its monthly retail sales balance slid in May from April, a four-month low.
The CBI said tepid trading conditions had taken a toll on retailers' hiring and investment plans.
REUTERS
