The Bank of Bermuda was reportedly due to make eight of its staff redundant this week as a result of the impact of the economic downturn, The Royal Gazette understands.

A source close to the bank claimed that it would lay off the employees over that period, but the bank would not confirm the number when asked. It is not known what departments would be affected.

Philip Butterfield, CEO of the Bank of Bermuda, said that some jobs may be made redundant as a result of the bank reviewing its costs and efficiencies in the current economic climate.

"2009 will continue to present challenges to the financial services sector," he said.

"Given the current economic environment we are evaluating our business on an ongoing basis and looking to reduce our operating expenses and gain efficiencies.

"Unfortunately this may result in some positions being made redundant. However, we will make every effort to keep the number of redundancies to a minimum through a focused effort to redeploy impacted employees. We have had success with this policy in the past and will continue to ensure that those impacted are prioritised for any vacancies within the organisation."

The bank announced in April it was cutting 14 jobs, including 10 in its securities services division and four in its insurance department.