Swiss bank UBS will outline plans to shrink or eliminate parts of its business in cuts that could result in the loss of as many as 9,000 jobs when it publishes its results tomorrow, according to the New York Post.

Sources close to the matter told the Post that UBS will reaffirm its commitment to an integrated banking model while announcing a raft of changes – including an overhaul of its wealth management operations.

According to the report, among the sweeping changes expected to be announced is a plan for UBS to combine its wealth management arm into a joint venture with another company. 

At one point, Wachovia Securities and UBS Financial Services were believed to have been engaged in talks for a possible tie up, but those discussions were “taken off the table”, one insider told WealthBriefing. UBS was also thought to have been in preliminary discussions with Morgan Stanley to forge a similar partnership before Morgan finalised a joint venture with Citi’s Smith Barney last month.

The paper's sources also said that UBS could name regional heads of wealth management, having split the group into separate US, Asian and international units.

UBS declined to comment when contacted.

UBS has suffered some $49 billion in credit write-downs - necessitating a $60 billion lifeline from the Swiss government.  Last week media reports emerged which said the Alpine-state’s authorities had asked UBS to break up its business, but this was denied by a government spokesperson.

Changes to UBS’s business model have already been seen, as last year the Swiss giant moved to put its wealth management, asset management and investment banking divisions onto a more autonomous footing, along with announcing job cuts and other cost-reductions.

In January German newspaper Sonntag said that UBS would record an overall loss of SFr20 billion ($18 billion) for 2008; Morgan Stanley has since predicted the Zurich-listed bank will suffer SFr63 billion of outflows this year from its wealth management business.