The Swiss bank UBS has announced it is cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide as it slims down its investment banking activities, BBC News reported.

The jobs will go over the next two years, and amount to 16% of its current workforce of 64,000.

UBS lost 39bn Swiss francs ($42bn) during the financial crisis and had to be bailed out by the Swiss authorities. The cuts are aimed at saving 3.4bn Swiss francs.

UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti said: "This decision has been a difficult one, particularly in a business such as ours that is all about its people. Some reductions will result from natural attrition and we will take whatever measures we can to mitigate the overall effect."

Last year, UBS lost a further 2bn Swiss francs due to the activities of Kweku Adoboli, an alleged rogue trader prompting the-then chief executive Oswald Gruebel to resign.

Adoboli is currently on trial for fraud and false accounting. He denies the charges.