HONG KONG (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley and HSBC will cut dozens of jobs in their investment banking divisions in Asia-Pacific this week, sources said. This comes as weak trading activity and weakness in the Chinese and Hong Kong markets are weighing on the companies' business outlook.
Morgan Stanley is cutting at least 50 jobs in its investment banking division in the region starting this week, three people familiar with the matter said, affecting about 13% of the Wall Street bank's 400 employees in its Asian investment banking division. ing.
Job cuts at HSBC's investment banking unit, which generates most of its revenue and profits in Asia, will begin on Tuesday, with about 30 dealmakers in the region expected to leave this week, three separate sources said. revealed.
All sources declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the layoffs. HSBC did not immediately respond to a Reuters inquiry on Wednesday.
The job cuts are the largest for the two banks' China-focused investment banking divisions and follow similar measures taken by other banks in response to a decline in trading activity in China due to the economic slowdown.
New layoffs that began in late 2023 in mainland China and Hong Kong, the main hubs of Western banks' regional investment banking operations, are expected to accelerate this year, bankers and recruiters said.
Bank of America laid off about 20 bankers in the region in January, following a wave of investment banking downsizing by UBS, Citigroup and other specialist firms.
(Reporting by Serena Lee, Julie Zhu and Kane Wu in Hong Kong and Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Jacqueline Wong)
