Morgan Stanley plans to slash hundreds of jobs from its debt and currencies division, people familiar with the matter said, revealing that the Wall Street firm believes that a monthslong slump in trading revenue may persist. Morgan Stanley could eliminate as much as a quarter of the business’s workforce, the people said Monday. The cuts will occur across all of the division’s offices, and on each of the firm’s trading desks, though London is expected to bear a slightly bigger brunt than New York, the people said. ...
Morgan Stanley is planning to cut up to 25% of its fixed-income jobs, with the reduction expected to take place in the next two weeks. This follows the bank's reported results, which indicate a 42% slide in bond trading in 3Q 2015, one of the worst performances since the financial crisis. All of the banks, from Deutsche Bank to Goldman Sachs, have shrunk their fixed-income business since the financial crisis; however, the market continues to contract, leaving those firms and executives with the tricky decision to cut further or try to ride out what could be a temporary slowdown; trimming costs, either from smaller bonuses or fewer employees, may help boost returns.