NEW YORK • Morgan Stanley plans to cut 1,200 jobs, including about 470 bankers and traders in its fixed-income trading division, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The cuts hit 25 per cent of the staff of the division that trades corporate bonds, treasury bonds, commodities and foreign exchange, with the other 730 affected employees working in support functions, sources told Agence France-Presse.
The total jobs to be eliminated represent a bit more than 2 per cent of Morgan Stanley's 56,000 workers.
Morgan Stanley plans a US$150 million (S$211 million) charge in the fourth quarter in connection with the restructuring, a spokesman for the US bank said.
In an internal memo to staff, Morgan Stanley executives Colm Kelleher and Ted Pick said the job cuts "will result in businesses that are critically and credibly sized for the current market, while maintaining the ability to deliver for our clients across products and geographies".
Meanwhile, the bank also named Mr Alistair Darling, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer during the financial crisis, to its board of directors. Mr Darling, 62, who was chancellor from 2007 to 2010, will join the board on Jan 1, the New York- based bank said on Tuesday in a statement.
His appointment follows a move by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to join an advisory panel at Pacific Investment Management announced on Monday.
In naming Mr Darling to its board, the US bank has added a politician who orchestrated the bailout of Britain's largest banks during the depths of the global financial crisis, including the £45.5 billion (S$96 billion) rescue of Royal Bank of Scotland Group in the largest state intervention to save a lender in history.
"He brings strong leadership experience, as well as insight into both the global economy and the global financial system," Morgan Stanley chairman and chief executive officer James Gorman said in the statement.
Mr Darling was a member of the British Parliament from 1987 until this year's election in May when he stood down. He was the leader of the cross-party Better Together campaign to keep Scotland part of the United Kingdom in last year's referendum and held several senior government posts prior to his time as chancellor.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG
