Layoffs at RBS herald tough times for CDO bankers

Royal Bank of Scotland has laid off a quarter of its New York collateralised debt obligation team, following the departure of Rick Caplan, the bank's co-head of CDOs, earlier this month, in what could be the first of a wave of cuts in the structured products market.

Six out of 24 members of the CDO team have left the bank. RBS said the cuts were "to bring [the CDO team] into line with the realities of market volumes", adding that it did not expect volumes to recover. Caplan's fellow co-head, Fred Matera, remains in the post.

Market participants expect more layoffs to follow. One commented: "Everyone in New York is expecting to hear about more job cuts in September. There'll be a wave of them."