Bank to focus on marketing, business development.

BANK Utama (Malaysia) Bhd, in an effort to reduce cost and increase efficiency, would downsize its trade finance team from 82 staff to 27 by the end of 2004.

President and chief executive officer Abdullah Mat Noh said the exercise would not amount to retrenchment as it only involved transfer of employees from one division to another.

"There would be no retrenchment as the 55 staff would be re-deployed to the business development and marketing divisions," he said at the launch of Bank Utama's RM2.2 million Trade Finance Centre in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

He said the centre would facilitate the streamlining and consolidation of the bank's entire trade …