NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - In the latest wave of defections, Jon Anda will leave Morgan Stanley to join a new financial services firm being formed by former top Morgan Stanley banker Joseph Perella, according to a news report Thursday.

Perella resigned from the blue-chip securities firm in April and has been attempting to recruit some former colleagues to his new firm, the Wall Street Journal said.

According to the paper, Perella confirmed in a statement that Anda agreed to join a "team studying...the formation of a new financial-services firm."

Anda joined Morgan Stanley (Research) in 1986 and was previously global head of corporate finance, global head of equity capital markets, and head of investment banking in Asia. He worked on such recent securities issues as the sale by General Electric Co. (Research) of stock in its Genworth Financial insurance unit, the paper said.

Anda's departure leaves Franck Petitgas as sole head of global capital markets.

"This problem doesn't exist to the same degree at the other major brokerage firms because they haven't lost top people like Morgan Stanley has," analyst Richard Bove, who follows securities firms for Punk, Ziegel & Co, told the paper.

In related news, Morgan Stanley said it will change its stock symbol to MS from MWD Jan. 17, removing a prominent link to its recent past and its former chief executive, Philip Purcell.

The investment bank has used the MWD ticker since June 1997, when Morgan Stanley Group Inc. and Dean Witter, Discover & Co. merged to create Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter & Co. Morgan Stanley had used the MS ticker before merging with Dean Witter.

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Morgan Stanley also fired four employees in recent weeks after they accompanied at least one client to a strip club, click here for more.

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