TOKYO (Reuters) - The brokerage arm of top Japanese lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T> will cut about half of its staff in Asia outside of Japan, in a restructuring to be finalised as early as Wednesday, two people familiar with the matter said.
Staff at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia will be cut to fewer than 100 people from around 180 now, two people said, declining to be identified because the information has not been made public.
Sales and trade will be heavily impacted, while debt capital markets will remain largely intact, they said. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities doesn't disclose the number of staff at three locations.
The businesses in Asia are separate from the Mitsubishi UFJ's Japan-based joint ventures with Morgan Stanley <MS.N>.
"From the perspective of enhancing our competitiveness, we constantly consider making our business more efficient globally," a Mitsubishi UFJ spokesman said. "But there is nothing particular finalised at this moment."
(Reporting by Takashi Umekawa and Takaya Yamaguchi; Editing by David Dolan)
