Morgan Stanley to cut 1,000 jobs worldwide

Mumbai: US investment bank Morgan Stanley will cut 1,000 jobs worldwide as the Wall Street giant scales back home-lending business in the US and shuts down its British mortgage unit.

The move comes as new management struggles to reposition the bank amid continued deterioration in the US mortgage market.

While the bank declined to detail the cuts, it is expected to affect Morgan Stanley employees who generate home loans through brokers and other third parties, as well as bankers who packaged these loans into bonds.

Morgan Stanley has so far laid off 2,900 people in mortgages, wealth management, investment banking and capital markets since October. The bank had 48,256 employees worldwide at the end of November.

In December, the bank reported a $9.4 billion write-down for the fourth quarter in losses linked to US sub-prime mortgages.

Morgan's latest cuts come about two months after co-president Zoe Cruz was forced out for her role overseeing a debt capital markets business following the huge fourth-quarter losses.