Lehman Brothers Holdings is restructuring its residential mortgage operations that will entail cutting 850 jobs and shuttering its Korean operations, MarketWatch reports.
Lehman, a leader in Wall Street firms’ push to have their own home-lending business, said it is cutting back its U.S. and U.K. operations “due to market conditions and product revisions.” Two weeks ago, Lehman shut down its subprime-lending division, resulting in a loss of 1,200 jobs, or 4.2% of the company’s total work force.
Lehman, which is the largest underwriter of mortgage-backed securities, has now cut some 2,500 positions in its residential mortgage units since the beginning of the summer.
“While these moves are extraordinarily difficult because of the impact they have on our people, we now have a business that is sized correctly for the current environment and positioned for long-term success,” says Ted Janulis, who oversees Lehman’s mortgage business. The latest job cuts will result in charges of under $20 million.