Canaccord cuts about 75 jobs in Canada as dealmaking slows
Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. cut about 75 jobs in Canada, primarily in its capital markets division, amid a dearth of dealmaking activity.
The terminations on Aug. 1 represent about 7 per cent of its 1,200 workers in Canada, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move marks the second round of job cuts Canaccord has taken in response to a global slowdown in dealmaking and new equity issuances, with the firm laying off about 25 people in its U.S. capital markets unit last month. That represented about 6 per cent of the division’s roughly 400 employees.
Canaccord’s management said in a memo to staff announcing the Canadian cuts that the firm has been evaluating each area of its business in its new fiscal year, which started in April, to design “an organizational structure consistent with the current and forecasted economic environment.”
Canaccord — which primarily serves small- and mid-cap companies in the technology, life sciences and resource sectors — has had a tumultuous year. Executives tried to take the company private, but the bid expired in June as they struggled to get timely approval from regulators. Canaccord then disclosed that it faces an investigation related to its wholesale market-making activities and may have to pay a “significant penalty” to settle it.
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