Truist Financial sheds 5% of investment-banking staff amid dealmaking slump

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• Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) is cutting about 5% of the workforce in its investment-banking unit as dealmaking continues to dry up given market volatility and an uncertain economic outlook, a company spokesman told Seeking Alpha in an emailed statement Tuesday.
• The investment bank is joining a sizable list of rivals who have been shedding staff in recent months, including Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Deutsche Bank (DB).
• Amid the slowdown in dealmaking, TFC's investment-banking and trading income dropped about 32% to $257M in Q4 from a year ago, reflecting lower capital markets activity and lower merger and acquisition fees.
• The bankers at Truist (TFC) impacted by the job cuts will receive priority consideration for other roles within the company and get severance and job-search assistance in the event of termination, spokesman Kyle Tarrance told SA.
• TFC's total headcount stood around 50K people, he added.
• Previously, (Jan. 19) Truist Financial Q4 earnings beat, helped by loan growth and interest income.