Morgan Stanley plans to slash 1,600 jobs in what may be just the beginning of a new round of layoffs at large investment banks, this time driven by a deeper reassessment of Wall Street businesses in the face of new regulations and capital standards. Morgan Stanley, the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, plans to begin letting go of the employees, many of whom work in its securities unit, starting this week, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, Jan 9.
A third person who has been involved with plans to cut staff at Morgan Stanley and other large banks said that Morgan Stanley's cuts had been in the works for months, and that more are expected in the future.
Large global investment banks have been cutting staff for the better part of five years, when the financial crisis pegged to the U.S. housing market began to seize up markets.
Firms previously focused their job cuts on areas where activity had screeched to a halt, such as securitization of mortgages, or that were explicitly banned by new regulations, such as proprietary trading, Reuters reported.
