HONG KONG (Reuters) -Morgan Stanley is cutting at least 50 investment banking jobs in the Asia-Pacific region, three sources said, becoming the latest global bank to scale back operations in the region, mainly due to the collapse of Chinese markets.
The layoffs affect about 13% of the Wall Street bank’s 400 Asian investment banking employees in the region, one of the sources said.
Bankers based in Hong Kong and mainland China will be hardest hit, they said. All sources declined to be named as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
A spokesperson for Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
Bloomberg first reported the job cuts on Wednesday.
The cuts are among the biggest for its China-focused investment banking team and follow similar measures by other banks also hit by declining deal-making activity in China amid a slowing economy.
In January, Bank of America laid off about 20 bankers in the region, following a series of downsizing at investment banks by UBS, Citigroup and other boutique firms.
Morgan Stanley on Tuesday reported first-quarter profit of $2.02 per share, which was higher than analysts’ average estimate of $1.66, according to LSEG data.
The bank’s total revenue rose to $15.14 billion from $14.5 billion a year earlier. Investment banking revenues increased 16% compared to the same period last year.
In the Asia-Pacific region, M&A advisory fees for the bank in the first quarter fell 41.5% to $30.4 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Fees across the bank’s equity capital markets, including Japan, totaled $68.5 million for the first quarter, LSEG data showed, up 26.3% from the same quarter in 2023.