Investment bank and financial services firm Morgan Stanley is slashing around 50 investment banking jobs in the Asia-Pacific region, reported Reuters. As per the report, the job cuts come due to a slump in deal activity.
The bulk of cuts is aimed at China and Hong Kong, impacting approximately 13% of the 400 bankers in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan. This will be the second job cuts in China by Morgan Stanley this year. In March the firm had laid off about 9% of its staff at its asset management business in the country.
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The stock market and economic downturn in China impacted dealmaking activity in the country which lead to trimming several key banking jobs in China last year.
The jobs cuts announcement has come even as Morgan Stanley booked a better-than-expected first quarter profit on a sharp rebound in its investment banking unit. Meanwhile, in the Asia-Pacific region, Morgan Stanley saw a significant decline in merger and acquisition advisory fees which dropped by 41.5% to $30.4 million in the first quarter as per data compiled by LSEG