JPMorgan cuts around 20 Asia investment banking jobs-source

By Selena Li

HONG KONG (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co has in a new round of downsizing cut around 20 investment banking jobs in Asia, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, joining global peers in trimming headcount as dealmaking slows.

JPMorgan on Tuesday notified the impacted bankers, the majority of whom are at junior ranks from analysts to executive directors, according to the source, declining to be named as the information is not public.

Those dealmakers covered consumers, healthcare sectors and private capital markets, the source added.

A bank spokesperson declined to comment. Bloomberg first reported the cuts on Wednesday.

The cuts are the second round of layoffs at JPMorgan in Asia this year with the Wall Street bank cutting around 20 investment banking jobs, mostly mid-level bankers focused on China deals, in the first quarter.

JPMorgan is the latest among a string of global banks to trim investment banking teams in Asia.

Bank of America Corp last month told around 40 bankers in Asia to look for new roles within the organisation, with Goldman Sachs and Citi laying off more than 30 and 20 dealmakers, respectively, last week.

Total Asia merger and acquisition (M&A) value for January through June this year dropped 41% year on year to reach $362 billion, the lowest since 2013, preliminary data from Refinitiv showed.

The decline was roughly in line with the rest of the world, as higher interest rates, volatile markets and geopolitical tensions weighed on dealmaking globally, causing a number of Wall Street banks to cut jobs over the past year.

(Reporting by Selena Li in Hong Kong;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)