April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, is cutting 500 jobs in investment banking and administration after earnings fell for a third straight quarter.

The cuts bring to 1,320 the total number of jobs eliminated by the Zurich-based bank since the collapse of the subprime mortgage market last year. Credit Suisse, led by Chief Executive Officer Brady Dougan, slashed 500 positions from its investment banking division in January and 320 in September and October.

``I don't think this is the end,'' said Jeanne Branthover, managing director at Boyden Global Executive Search in New York. ``Business is just not there and the people that were doing all the work have nothing to do anymore.''

Banks and brokerages around the world have cut at least 48,423 jobs in the past 10 months to reduce expenses as revenue from fixed-income and investment banking tumbles. Citigroup Inc., which lost $5.11 billion in the first quarter, plans to eliminate 9,000 jobs. Merrill Lynch & Co. is cutting 3,000 jobs after posting a $1.96 billion loss in the first quarter.

Credit Suisse's investment banking division, which employed 20,600 people as of Dec. 31, includes sales and trading as well as bankers who advise companies on takeovers or capital-raising. The unit is led by Paul Calello, who succeeded Dougan in the role after Dougan was promoted to run the entire company last year. The bank declined to specify the types of jobs lost in the administrative unit, known internally as ``shared services.''

M&A Shrivels

``Due to market conditions and projected staffing levels required to meet client needs, we are reducing global headcount by approximately 500 across our investment banking division and shared services division,'' said Bruce Corwin, a New York-based spokesman for the bank.

The volume of worldwide mergers and acquisitions announced so far this year has tumbled 33 percent to $838 billion from $1.25 trillion at the same point a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Global equity and equity-linked sales have dropped 36 percent from a year earlier, while worldwide high-yield bond sales have plummeted 77 percent, the data show.

Dougan said last month that the bank may post a first- quarter loss when it reports earnings on April 24 because of writedowns on debt securities that were deliberately mispriced by ``a small number'' of traders and because of deteriorating markets in March.

`Difficult Month'

``March has been a very difficult month,'' Dougan said on March 20. ``Trading results have been very difficult given the extreme volatility in the markets.''

The bank probably lost 594 million Swiss francs ($593 million) in the period, according to the median estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Credit Suisse had a 2.73 billion franc profit in the year-earlier period. The bank's shares are down 22 percent so far this year, compared with a 32 percent decline in shares of UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank.

Wall Street firms eliminated about 90,000 jobs in the two years after the Internet bubble burst in 2001, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The current round may exceed 100,000, according to analysts including Jo Bennett, a partner at executive search firm Battalia Winston International.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harper in New York at charper@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 22, 2008 15:19 EDT