A Massive Bank Is Now Announcing Unexpected Layoffs

February 15, 2024

A massive bank is now announcing unexpected layoffs, mostly non-customer-facing employees in wealth management, sources report.

Morgan Stanley plans to cut several hundred jobs in its wealth management unit, The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday.

Affected employees — who number less than 1% of the bank’s headcount in the unit — could be notified as early as this week, people familiar with the matter told the publication.

The bank is eliminating redundant roles after wrapping up its integration of E*Trade last year, the Journal reported.

Apart from that, the cuts will encompass mostly non-customer-facing employees and a small number of managing directors, according to the publication.

Financial advisers and their support teams won’t be affected by the layoffs, the Journal reported.

The upcoming round of layoffs would be at least Morgan Stanley’s third since late 2022 but a first for CEO Ted Pick, who took over the bank’s top role Jan. 1.

Morgan Stanley cut roughly 1,600 employees, or about 2% of the bank’s headcount in December 2022, then made deeper cuts around June of last year under former CEO (now executive chair) James Gorman.

Morgan Stanley rebuilt itself during Gorman’s tenure by expanding its wealth management footprint.

Pick, an investment banker by background, was chosen in October to lead Morgan Stanley over the executive now in charge of wealth management, Andy Saperstein.

But Morgan Stanley took pains to keep Saperstein on after Pick’s appointment — handing both executives $20 million in equity-based compensation.

At the time of Pick’s ascent, at least one analyst warned that the new CEO must make clear early on that wealth management is “still the driver of the long-term growth of the business.”

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Also Read: A US Bank is Now Denying Customers Access to Money

Other Banking News Today

This massive bank is now closing accounts and credit cards in an abrupt manner and without warning, sources report.

While many would hope for a seamless banking process, one Fifth Third Bank member was barred off from their money, reports The-Sun.

The person who remained anonymous vented their fury on a Reddit thread dedicated to personal finance.

It all started when they made the choice to help out a “friend,” the user said.

He would often ask the user to borrow $100.

In return for the user giving money, he would then send $150 to them through Zelle.

The user explained how their Zelle was linked to their Fifth Third Bank mobile banking app.

And while the profit seemed attractive at first, it didn’t hold up for much longer.

What happened next left the Redditor confused, worried, and skeptical of their so-called “friendship,” reports The-Sun.

They realized they were betrayed when their friend disputed each transaction as a way to steal all the money back.

“As a result of him doing this, I tried using my debit card and logging into my banking app, and it said my account was locked” they said.

After calling Third Fifth Bank’s customer service, the user discovered their account was closed due to “so many transactions.”

The bank viewed them as fraud and decided not to do business with them anymore.

“They said I will be able to go into any local branch during operation hours and withdrawal all of my funds that are inside of the now closed account,” they wrote.

But the user was still worried, especially since they had $9,000 locked up in the account.

“Will they hold true to their word? Will they actually let me withdrawal all of my funds?”

Users replied to the Redditor saying they should be able to get the money back since the bank chose to close the customer’s account.

“You will get your money, but it may take a long time,” one person commented.

The bank had closed the users account and credit cards without warning despite the customer being scammed.

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Also Read: The US Treasury Direct is Now Freezing Customer Accounts

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