Morgan Stanley (MS)

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Morgan Stanley planning to cut jobs:

Monday February 2, 5:37 pm ET
Report: Morgan Stanley planning to cut up to 4 percent of its work force:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Morgan Stanley could announce this month that it plans to cut up to 4 percent of its work force, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The report, citing anonymous people familiar with the plans, said the Wall Street firm could cut 1,500 to 1,800 jobs. The reductions could be announced this month, according to the report posted on the newspaper's Web site.

Morgan Stanley representatives were not immediately available to comment on the report.

The additional cuts come on top of about 7,000 job cuts Morgan Stanley made in 2008, and amid layoffs across nearly every sector of the economy as the nation remains stuck in a recession.

The Journal noted that none of the cuts would come in the global wealth management business, which is getting ready to combine with Citigroup Inc.'s Smith Barney brokerage unit. In a deal announced last month, Morgan Stanley will own a 51 percent stake in the venture.

Morgan Stanley has about 8,400 brokers.

Citigroup has been especially hit hard by the ongoing credit crisis and has been looking to shed assets and streamline operations, which helped lead to the deal with Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley is one of two remaining large investment banks -- along with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. -- that withstood the carnage the sector endured last September when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection and Merrill Lynch & Co. sold itself to Bank of America Corp. To remain independent, both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs became bank holding companies, the regulatory structure for traditional commercial banks.

Morgan Stanley has endured trouble of its own during the ongoing turmoil, though not as much as Citigroup or Lehman. New York-based Morgan Stanley lost $2.37 billion during its fiscal fourth quarter as it took a wide range of losses on the value of some of its investments.

Shares of Morgan Stanley rose 57 cents to close at $20.80 Monday.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090202/morgan_stanley_job_cuts.html?.v=3