Japan's megabank to slash 1000 jobs

About 1000 employees at Japan's largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will be laid off as the global recession bites the Island nation.

The megabank is to cut 1,000 jobs and close 50 branches over three years in a bid to cut costs, a company spokesman who declined to be named told AFP on Monday. 

The cuts will be made possible through retirement, reducing hiring, and the closure of 200 automated teller machines, he said. 

The spokesman, however, denied rumors that the redundancies were a result of the global recession which has battered Asia's export-dependent economies. 

"This is part of our efforts to streamline our operations in order to maximize the effect of our merger," he said. 

The bank, which was formed in 2005 through a merger, has lost 42 billion yen (437 million dollars) in the nine months to December. 

The group last year invested a total of $9 billion troubled Wall Street titan Morgan Stanley, as the US economy was sliding towards a 1930s-style depression.