(Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS AG's caretaker chief executive Sergio Ermotti has ruled out a sale or spinoff of the investment bank and is planning to shrink the investment-banking unit, the Wall Street Journal reported. More on Barclays ( BCS ) Q1 earnings : The company missed overall expectations, but profit at its investment banking unit beat estimates thanks to the bank's cost-cutting efforts - which management says remain on track. "The Barclays thesis can't work unless the returns on the investment bank work, ... DUBAI, April 6 (Reuters) - QInvest, a Doha-based investment bank, has appointed Michael Katounas, previously with Swiss lender Credit Suisse, to run its investment banking division, QInvest said in a statement on Saturday. Along with continued job cuts, UBS considers demoting Carsten Kengeter - who has run or co-run the investment bank unit since 2009 - according to sources. The bank is under pressure from shareholders and regulators to boost capital and throttle back in the trading and investment banking areas. Post ... LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland has hired investment bank Lazard to advise it on a scale-back of its investment banking arm, including options to sell parts of the business, a source with... LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland has hired investment bank Lazard to advise it on a scale-back of its investment banking arm, including options to sell parts of the business, a source with... If US Bancorp USB is exploring options for a spin-off or sale of its investment bank--as The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday--we can't fault it. However, we suspect it will be near impossible to find a third-party buyer for Piper Jaffray, given depressed investment banking conditions, and a ... KBW KBW reported a net loss of $4.2 million, or $0.14 per share, on $64 million of revenue for the second quarter of 2011. Revenue decreased a dramatic 33% sequentially, primarily from 60% lower investment banking revenue. Other revenue lines held up decently and accounted for only 9% of the 33% ... By Robert Broens : Shares of the securities and investment banking firm Jefferies ( JEF ) rose more than 14% on Monday. Leucadia and Jefferies announced that both companies will merge their activities. Shares of Leucadia fell some 3.0% during the session. The Deal Leucadia National Corporation ( ... Instead of shutting most of Wachovia's investment bank down (as we hoped and management originally intended), Wells Fargo WFC announced that it plans to expand this business. While we are unhappy with the announcement from a strategic point of view, it does not alter our fair value estimate. Under ...