Morgan Stanley plans to start cutting about 50 investment-banking jobs in the Asia-Pacific region this week, sources said, with at least 80 percent of reductions in Hong Kong and China.
This would be the biggest layoffs for the bank in China in years.
The planned cuts affect about 13 percent of the 400 bankers in the region, excluding Japan. More than 40 people in Hong Kong and mainland China are expected to lose their jobs in the coming cuts.
Morgan Stanley reported Tuesday that net revenue from Asia fell 12 percent to US$1.74 billion (HK$13.57 billion) in the first quarter from a year earlier, even as its global results topped forecasts. Earnings for the quarter totaled US$3.4 billion, on US$15.1 billion in revenue, lifted by trading.
HSBC (0005), meanwhile, is expected to cut an additional 20 investment banking jobs in Asia on a deals slump, taking total cuts to around 30 this week. The Asia-focused lender started the layoffs on Tuesday in the region, when it notified around a dozen bankers.
A new round of staff cuts that began in late 2023 in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, key regional investment banking hubs for western banks, is set to pick up the pace this year, bankers and recruiters have said.
Global financial firms are seeking to reduce expenses amid a deal drought and have been cutting investment-banking staff in Asia amid deteriorating US-China ties, along with a crackdown on private enterprise and a property crisis.
Chinese brokerages are also slashing bonuses and laying off analysts due to less demand for research amid market slump.
At Guotai Junan Securities, a state-owned brokerage based in Shanghai, several senior analysts recently resigned after refusing pay cuts and stricter performance metrics.
One Shenzhen-based brokerage laid off 40 percent of its analysts during the first quarter and slashed their 2023 bonuses by more than 50 percent. Other brokerages are reducing meal and travel budgets to contain costs.
Hong Kong United Times丨香港聯合時報丨HKUT 