Wall Street Beats India Retreat as Fee Drought Drives Job Losses

Investment banks from UBS AG to Morgan Stanley spent half a decade building their operations in India, betting that a growing economy would trigger a boom in mergers and stock sales. They’ve spent the last three years reversing that expansion.

The number of investment-banking positions in India has dropped by about 30 percent since 2010 -- more than double the pace of global industry cutbacks in the same period -- according to the Indian unit of recruiter Randstad Holding NV. Some firms, including Bank of America Corp., have made even steeper cuts.