Wall St job losses may be Asia's gain

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Within hours of Bank of America agreeing to buy Merrill Lynch this week, Indian financial services firm Ambit hired five Merrill executives, a sign that Asia hopes to gain from massive Wall Street layoffs.

For China and India, whose economies are still expanding at well over 7 percent, the global financial industry crisis makes it easier to recruit bankers who are brushing off their resumes.

New York's governor reckons 40,000 Wall Street jobs could go in a worst-case scenario, with talk swirling of more bank deals and mergers.

Lehman Brothers, which has filed for bankruptcy protection, has around 2,000 staff in India, including its back-office operation, while Merrill has about 500.

Ambit Holdings said on Monday it hired the five Merrill executives from a majority-owned local venture for its institutional equities and equity proprietary trading unit, including a 10-year Merrill veteran as head.

BNP Paribas and Nomura Securities in India are looking to hire Lehman executives, according to investment banking sources who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. In Hong Kong, bankers said they were considering hiring from Lehman.

"I think there's opportunities to improve our team or bring key people into key positions relatively easily and quickly and painlessly. Normally, it's quite expensive and difficult to move investment bankers around," said one banker in Hong Kong.