(Bloomberg) -- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.'s securities joint venture with Morgan Stanley is cutting equities staff in Tokyo, including several managers, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Managers Yasutaka Takedomi and Toru Kaneda are among five to 10 employees in the sales trading team who are leaving Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. A few research analysts are also departing as the firm seeks to cut costs in the equities business, one of the people said.
A Tokyo-based spokesman declined to comment, and efforts to reach Takedomi and Kaneda were unsuccessful.
Banks around the world have been shrinking stock teams as electronic trading and tougher regulations squeeze profitability. Mizuho Financial Group Inc. saw the exit of several senior managers at its equity business in Japan last year, Bloomberg reported at the time.
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MUFG, Japan's biggest bank, has already been trimming staff at its securities operation abroad. In September, it cut dozens of jobs in Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney following a review of the group's struggling global sales and trading business.
Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's biggest securities firm, cut equities positions abroad last year as part of a $1 billion restructuring plan at its global wholesale division. Last month, HSBC Holdings Plc said it will reduce its sales and trading and equity research operations in Europe, a component of its latest overhaul.
To contact the reporters on this story: Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at thyuga@bloomberg.net;Takashi Nakamichi in Tokyo at tnakamichi1@bloomberg.net;Takako Taniguchi in Tokyo at ttaniguchi4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Marcus Wright at mwright115@bloomberg.net, Russell Ward
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