Wall St. lobby group cuts 25 percent of staff:sources

By Anupreeta Das

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Wall Street's main lobbying group, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, this week fired around 25 percent of its staff, sources familiar with the matter said -- further proof that the financial crisis is severely hurting the U.S. brokerage industry.

"Our member firms are facing challenges, and those challenges are reflected across the industry. Tough economic times require hard choices, and this week SIFMA was required to restructure," SIFMA said in an e-mailed statement.

A SIFMA spokesman provided no further details on the number of jobs cut or cost-cutting initiatives.

But one person who had been fired said 44 people lost their jobs, or about 25 percent of the U.S. staff.

"The day of the cuts, people in each office were called one by one to an office to get the news, as others watched them go in, wondering if they were next," the source said on condition of anonymity.

SIFMA has more than 650 members around the world, mostly financial firms and brokerages that have been scalded by the financial turmoil.

SIFMA counts Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), Morgan Stanley(MS.N) and other firms once considered the darlings of Wall Street among its members.

(Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)