SINGAPORE, April 14, 2009 (AFP) - Switzerland's biggest bank UBS said Tuesday that 240 jobs will be cut from its wealth management division in the Asia-Pacific region as part of a cost reduction exercise.

Despite the job losses, the region remains important for the company, UBS said in a statement from its Singapore office.

"Asia Pacific remains a strategic priority for the group, and a region in which it will continue to invest," UBS said in the statement.

"However, in common with its competitors, the slowdown in the global economy and the ongoing challenging economic conditions, have prompted a renewed focus on the management of costs including, as a last resort, those related to staff."

The job cuts announced Tuesday represent less than three percent of the bank's total staff force in the region and under eight percent of its employees in the wealth management group, a UBS spokeswoman said.

She said the job cuts extend across all levels within the wealth management group.

The Swiss banking giant, among the worst hit by the global financial crisis, announced in March an upward revision in full-year loss for 2008 to 20.9 billion Swiss francs (18.35 billion US) from almost 19.7 billion initially.