Morgan Stanley downsizing: Hong Kong, China to bear the brunt of US bank’s Asia-Pacific job cuts
- More than 40 of the 50 investment-banking jobs in the Asia-Pacific the Wall Street firm plans to cut will be from Hong Kong and mainland China, sources say
- Morgan Stanley joins HSBC Holdings, which on Tuesday laid off about a dozen bankers, after UBS Group and Bank of America cut jobs earlier this year
The planned cuts affect about 13 per cent of the 400 bankers in the region, excluding Japan, one of the people said. More than 40 people in Hong Kong and mainland China are expected to lose their jobs in the coming round, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.
The final size and timing of the cuts are subject to change, the people said. A media representative for the New York-based bank declined to comment.
The job cuts would be the deepest in years for Morgan Stanley in China, its biggest market in the region. The world’s second-biggest economy is struggling to find a firm footing because of a prolonged property crisis and persistent doubts over growth. Morgan Stanley reported on Tuesday that net revenue from Asia fell 12 per cent to US$1.74 billion in the first quarter from a year earlier, even as its global results topped forecasts.
The firm delayed the lay-offs late last year, betting that historically low bonuses for deal makers would spark voluntary departures, one of the people said. Only a few bankers left, prompting the company to make deeper cuts as revenue from China continues to slide. The bank plans to start communicating with the affected employees this week, the people said.
