Bear Stearns has laid off six members of staff in its leveraged finance unit in London, five of them senior, as part of a wave of job cuts taking place at the US-based investment bank.

The lay-offs, which include the head of the leveraged finance unit, have knocked a large dent in the team, which was hired in en masse by Bear Stearns from WestLB a year ago. Bear Stearns said its leveraged finance and syndication team in London now has 11 staff members.