Morgan Stanley trims Asia leverage finance unit

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Two senior Morgan Stanley (MS.N) leveraged finance bankers in Asia have left the firm, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, as part of the Wall Street bank's plans to cut its global workforce.

Managing Directors Peter Szekely, who was based in Hong Kong, and Ponty Singh, who worked from Singapore, have left the firm, the sources said.

A Morgan Stanley spokesman confirmed the two departures, adding, "our firm remains fully committed to leveraged finance in Asia."

Investment banks in Asia had beefed up their teams in recent years to finance leveraged buyouts, but relatively few such deals have taken place and private equity funds have been frustrated in their efforts to find takeover targets in the region.

Globally, banks have been cutting thousands of jobs as business has slowed in the wake of the credit crunch.

Szekely joined Morgan Stanley from Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) in 2006, while Singh joined last year from Citigroup (C.N). Both were promoted to managing director in December 2007. Neither could immediately be reached for comment.

Their departures leave Morgan Stanley's Asia leveraged finance team with 10 professionals, a person familiar with the matter said.

Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley said it planned to cut about 5 percent of its staff this year, excluding its retail brokerage arm, mostly in the United States. The bank employed 47,050 people at the end of February.

(Reporting by Tony Munroe, Rafael Nam, and Tom Miles)