Now that Australia Day is over, 2009 can finally begin in earnest. But the banking sector might wish it was still on vacation – more bloodshed looms on the horizon.

Just how bad do you think the redundancies will be this year? Which banks will cut the deepest and which job functions are most vulnerable?

There is a feeling that banks have been holding back on further layoffs in the slim hope that January might bring some signs of hope in the financial markets. But as the local economy slumps and global banks post more staggering losses, are the redundancy floodgates now opening even wider?

MLC, the wealth management wing of NAB, has already started the post-holiday heartache by slashing 120 staff. This is a bitter blow for an industry already reeling from Q4 job cuts at Macquarie, AMP, Perpetual and ANZ, to name but a few.

But is the MLC move just a one-off, or a signal of more slaughter this summer? Is Australia the next New York when it comes to putting bankers on the scrapheap? Let us know your thoughts below.