Investing.com — Morgan Stanley (NYSE:) plans to begin cutting about 50 jobs at its investment banking unit in Asia ex-Japan this week, with the majority going to Hong Kong and China, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Reported.
The report said the planned job cuts would involve more than 40 layoffs in Hong Kong and mainland China, and would affect about 13% of the 400 bankers in Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan.
The planned layoffs are Morgan Stanley's second job cuts in China this year, after it was reported in March that the bank had laid off about 9% of its workforce in its wealth management business in China. .
morgan stanley The company cut several jobs in its main banking operations in China last year as the country's trading activity slowed due to the economic and stock market downturn.
The outlook for the Chinese market has deteriorated significantly after a year of decline in Chinese stocks and only half-hearted signs of recovery.
However, the reports of layoffs came even though Morgan Stanley posted a better-than-expected profit in the first quarter due to a rapid recovery in its investment banking division.
Much of this recovery was due to increased movement into the United States, as Wall Street remained strong this year even as other major stock markets fell.
In Asia, Australia, India and Japan have also remained strong so far, while other stock markets in the region, particularly China, have struggled.
