Bankers fear the pace of job losses in the investment banking industry is set to accelerate over the summer after it emerged that Goldman Sachs, the sector’s star performer, cut staff at its investment banking division last week.

The Wall Street bank is now expected to cut up to 10 per cent of staff in the division that handles mergers and acquisition advice and corporate fundraisings over the course of 2008, with a fresh round of trimming starting last week.