Terminated Wall Street employees aren’t the only casualties of the recent market downturn, firms are looking to cut costs wherever they can.

According to the Financial Times, Merrill Lynch has had to cancel its global private equity conference, and other firms are cutting back on travel and entertaining, too.

FT says that Merrill’s annual conference has officially been postponed until the first half of 2002. The conference is usually held in Washington D.C., and has attracted high-profile speakers such as then-U.S. Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers. This year it was scheduled to take place in London, England.

The conference’s postponement reflects not only Merrill’s own frugality, but that of possible attendees, who are also cutting back on such expenditures.

FT notes that Deutsche Bank has cancelled staff travelling for internal meetings, and it relying on video conferencing instead. Goldman Sachs has cancelled first-class travel and restricted the use of free taxis home, while Credit Suisse First Boston has told its staff to limit dining costs to celebrate the closing of deals, under $10,000.