HONG KONG, April 21, 2009 (AFP) - Global banking giant HSBC said Tuesday it had laid off 100 private bankers in Hong Kong as demand for their services has shrunk amid the economic downturn.

"Changing market conditions have affected business volumes and have led private banking to review its business to ensure it remains competitive and well-placed to serve its clients," a spokesman for the bank told AFP.

The spokesman said the layoffs represented eight percent of their 1,200 private banking staff in Hong Kong.

Asked if there would be more layoffs, he said: "No employer can give a cast-iron guarantee in the current economic climate."

The London-based bank said it had completed its US$17 billion (S$26 billion) rights issues earlier this month after posting a 70 percent plunge in its 2008 profits in March.

The cuts were the latest in a wave of layoffs in the finance sector.

Last week, embattled Swiss banking giant UBS AG (UBS) said it would cut 240 jobs, about eight percent of the workforce, at its wealth management group in the Asia Pacific, as part of efforts to save costs, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

In February, Deutsche Bank AG (DB) cut about 70 of its wealth management staff in Hong Kong and Singapore, sources told Dow Jones.