The Financial Post reports in its Saturday, Oct. 3, edition that an unnamed source says National Bank of Canada will cut as many as 400 jobs as it seeks to reduce costs amid changes in technology and customer preferences. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that the source says the reductions will mostly be in the Montreal-based lender's personal and commercial banking unit and corporate operations, and will be spread across the country. The firm has a similar number of open positions and is seeking employees with technology and digital skills, says the source. Chief executive officer Louis Vachon said Thursday that "a few hundred employees" will be affected as part of a restructuring that will result in National Bank taking a $64-million charge in the fourth quarter. Mr. Vachon said: "Given the IT transformation and to what extent and how rapidly consumer preferences are changing, you cannot substitute or retrain people. ... We are being forced to let some people go and, at the same time, hiring other people with the expertise that we're looking at." National Bank also sold 7.16 million shares at $41.90 apiece to raise $300-million. National Bank shares have dropped 17 per cent this year.