BERLIN/TOKYO -- Deutsche Bank's Japan subsidiary, Deutsche Securities, will withdraw from stock sales and trading across the Asia-Pacific region as part of a large-scale restructuring the German lender calls a "radical transformation," according to a company spokesperson.

The bank seeks to arrest a decline in its stock price by cutting 18,000 jobs worldwide by 2022, accounting for 20% of its total bankers. The cuts will center on its volatile investment banking operations, which have not been earning sufficient profits to justify the risks.

The spokesperson in Japan declined to give specifics on the number of job cuts in the stock business, as well as the timing of the complete withdrawal. The representative said the company will continue its bonds business, as well as its foreign exchange and mergers-and-acquisitions advisory operations. "We are maintaining our global presence with major hubs in the U.S., Europe and Asia, which is particularly important for our corporate clients."

The unit in Japan has about 500 employees.

Reuters reported on Monday that the company is also disbanding its Australian equity capital markets team. Entire teams handling sales and trading are reportedly being cut as well.

Deutsche Bank had some 4,700 staffers at its main regional offices in Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. The investment banking team for the Asia-Pacific region numbered about 300 people before the cuts, of which 10% to 15% will be laid off -- almost all in the equity capital markets division, the Reuters report added.

In Singapore, Deutsche Bank employees were going in and out of its office in the Marina Bay financial district at lunchtime on Monday, as usual. One male banker told the Nikkei Asian Review that he "did not see anything happening yet [in the office]." He added that "the mood is always depressed in Deutsche Bank because people know the bank is not doing well."

Most of the staff approached by Nikkei declined to comment, with one saying, "We are not allowed to speak."

Deutsche Bank on Sunday announced it will carry out a major global payroll reduction, dropping its equities sales and trading business. The bank also said it would bundle 74 billion euros ($83 million) worth of assets from its investment banking operations into a separate unit for disposal.

The lender is expected to post a 2.8 billion euro loss for its second quarter to pay for the downsizing. While swallowing the temporary surge in red ink, the company aims to reduce its dependence on risky investment banking, focusing more on settlements and fund management.

Deutsche Bank had been actively building up its investment banking segment, including securities trading, since its acquisition of Bankers Trust in 1998 for $10 billion. Prolonged quantitative easing by the European Central Bank has hurt the lender, since interest rates were held down.

The departure of investment banking head Garth Ritchie was announced on Friday.

Bloomberg also reported that Deutsche Bank plans to close the majority of its equities business in the Asia-Pacific region, with the company expected to stop trading of cash equities, equities research and potentially underwriting of initial public offerings. It may, however, keep its margin lending business.

Nikkei staff writers Eri Sugiura in Tokyo and Kentaro Iwamoto in Singapore contributed to this report.