UBS, the Swiss banking giant, has laid off some of its Canada-based staff as it ends its in-house management of Canadian-equity portfolios, Bloomberg reports. 

Eight workers have already left, composed of analysts, traders and administrative support staff, a spokesperson for UBS said in an interview with the news service. 

Pierre Ouimet and Ron Schwartz, both senior executives, will reportedly stay temporarily while a unit of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce takes over management of the company's Canadian stock funds. The publication has also cited Tages-Anzeiger, another news service, as saying that UBS will announce 1,500 job cuts on 17 November. 

The decision to transfer management of its stock portfolio management unit in Canada to CIBC follows a review of the Zurich-based company's global operations, which resulted in the shutdown of non-core areas of business.