Equity desks facing the axe as stocks underperform across Asia

Hong Kong

EVEN by the boom-bust standards of Asia's equity business, it's been a turbulent 12 months.

At this time last year, the industry was riding high as China's stock market soared, volumes jumped to record highs and some of the biggest names in finance boosted hiring. Now, turnover is shrinking at the fastest pace since at least 2006 and banks are under growing pressure to either downsize their Asian equity desks, or exit parts of the business altogether.