SocGen to Cut U.S. Jobs, Cantor Looks to Hire Hundreds

France’s second-largest bank, Societe Generale, has announced plans to cut its U.S. workforce by at least 200. The news came as another financial services institution, the New York-based Cantor & Fitzgerald & Company, said it would be adding at least 200 new jobs next year.

Cantor said it was looking to build out its sales and trading business while reducing overseas cost, according to Crains New York Business. The bond speciality company said it would be looking to increase its headcount in divisions that included credit, leveraged loans and fixed-income sales.

The firm currently employs approximately 1,400 people worldwide.

Meanwhile, Societe Generale said it is selling assets and cutting costs to help the company cope with the current debt crisis.

James Galvin, a New York spokesman for the bank, told Bloomberg the firm is looking to cut about 200 workers stateside with more global layoffs expected through 2013.

“Societe Generale is in the process of scaling down a certain number of corporate- and investment-banking businesses adversely affected by regulation, structural changes or with low cross-selling potential,” Galvin told the news agency. “Therefore, the bank is adjusting its international setup accordingly.”