Morgan Stanley is a multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York City. It operates globally with a significant presence in 42 countries and employs over 80,000 people. The firm serves a diverse clientele, including corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals, offering a wide array of financial products and services. Morgan Stanley is recognized as one of the largest corporations in the United States, securing a high ranking on both the Fortune 500 and Forbes Global 2000 lists based on revenue and overall performance.
In 1933, the U.S. Congress passed the Glass–Steagall Act, leading to the separation of investment and commercial banking businesses and the subsequent formation of Morgan Stanley.
On September 16, 1935, the original Morgan Stanley was formed by J.P. Morgan & Co. partners Henry Sturgis Morgan, Harold Stanley, and others in response to the Glass–Steagall Act.
In 1938, Morgan Stanley was the lead underwriter in the distribution of US$100 million of debentures for the United States Steel Corporation.
In 1939, Morgan Stanley obtained the distinction of being the lead syndicate in the U.S. rail financing.
In 1941, Morgan Stanley went through a reorganization to allow for more activity in its securities business.
In 1951, Perry Hall began leading Morgan Stanley. Hall was the last founder to lead the company.
In 1952, Morgan Stanley co-managed the World Bank's triple-A-rated bonds offering.
In 1961, Perry Hall's leadership of Morgan Stanley came to an end.
In 1962, Morgan Stanley created the first viable computer model for financial analysis, marking a new trend in the field.
In 1967, Morgan Stanley established Morgan & Cie, International in Paris to enter the European securities market and acquired Brooks, Harvey & Co., Inc. to establish a presence in the real estate business.
In 1996, Morgan Stanley acquired Van Kampen American Capital.
On February 5, 1997, Morgan Stanley merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co., with Philip J. Purcell continuing as chairman and CEO of the newly merged entity.
In 1997, the original Morgan Stanley merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co. Philip J. Purcell, Dean Witter's chairman and CEO, became the chairman and CEO of the newly merged "Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover & Co."
In 1998, the name of the firm was changed to "Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co."
In 1999, John Mack set up a joint venture in India with local partner JM Financial.
In 2001, Morgan Stanley lost 13 employees during the September 11 attacks in the World Trade Center towers. 2,687 employees were successfully evacuated. The firm's offices were located on 35 floors across buildings 1, 2, and 5.
In 2001, the company's name was changed back to Morgan Stanley, dropping Dean Witter.
In November 2003, New York–Presbyterian Hospital named the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in recognition of the firm's sponsorship. The building opened in November 2003.
In 2003, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $125 million as part of a $1.4 billion settlement involving claims of intentionally misleading research to secure investment banking business. The settlement included the Attorney General of New York, NASD, SEC, and various state securities regulators.
In July 2004, Morgan Stanley paid a $2.2 million fine to NASD for over 1,800 late disclosures of reportable information about its brokers.
In September 2004, Morgan Stanley paid a $19 million fine imposed by the NYSE for failures in delivering prospectuses, inaccurate reporting, short sale violations, fingerprinting lapses, and untimely filing of exchange forms.
In 2004, Morgan Stanley settled a sex discrimination suit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $54 million.
On January 12, 2005, the New York Stock Exchange imposed a $19 million fine on Morgan Stanley for alleged regulatory and supervisory lapses, which was the largest fine ever imposed by the NYSE at the time.
In March 2005, Morgan Stanley entered a management crisis, resulting in staff losses.
On May 16, 2005, a Florida jury found Morgan Stanley liable for failing to provide adequate information to Ronald Perelman about Sunbeam, awarding him $604 million in damages and an additional amount in punitive damages, totaling $1.450 billion. The verdict was a sanction for the firm's failure to produce documents.
In June 2005, Philip J. Purcell resigned as CEO of Morgan Stanley.
In 2005, Morgan Stanley moved 2,300 of its employees back to lower Manhattan.
On March 2, 2006, Morgan Stanley settled a class-action lawsuit filed in California by current and former employees in the financial advisor training program. The lawsuit alleged unfair labor practices related to overtime pay and administrative expenses, with a $42.5 million settlement reached. Morgan Stanley admitted no fault.
On December 19, 2006, Morgan Stanley announced the spin-off of its Discover Card unit.
In February 2007, Morgan Stanley ended its Indian joint venture, acquiring its local partner's stake in the institutional brokerage business and selling its own stake in other businesses.
On March 21, 2007, the ruling against Morgan Stanley in the Ronald Perelman lawsuit was overturned, and the firm was no longer required to pay the $1.57 billion verdict.
On June 30, 2007, Morgan Stanley completed the spin-off of Discover Financial.
In July 2007, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging incorrect charges to clients for the storage of precious metals.
On September 27, 2007, FINRA announced a $12.5 million settlement with Morgan Stanley regarding failures by its former affiliate, Morgan Stanley DW, Inc. (MSDW), to provide emails in arbitration proceedings and to regulators. The firm initially claimed the loss of emails was due to the September 11 attacks in 2001, but millions of earlier emails were later found.
On December 19, 2007, Morgan Stanley announced it would receive a US$5 billion capital infusion from the China Investment Corporation.
By 2007, Morgan Stanley faced massive write-downs related to the subprime mortgage crisis.
In 2007, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $46 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by eight female brokers.
On June 18, 2008, Morgan Stanley admitted that a rogue trader's actions resulted in a $120 million loss for the firm. The Financial Services Authority fined the firm £1.4m for failing to properly control these actions.
In August 2008, Morgan Stanley was contracted by the United States Treasury to advise the government on potential rescue strategies for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
On September 17, 2008, Morgan Stanley's share price slid 42% in two days, causing CEO John J. Mack to address staff concerns.
By September 19, 2008, Morgan Stanley's share price had slid 57% in four days, and the company explored merger possibilities with various financial institutions.
On September 22, 2008, Morgan Stanley announced that it would become a traditional bank holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve.
On September 29, 2008, MUFG Bank invested $9 billion in a direct purchase of a 21% ownership stake in Morgan Stanley. A physical check had to be used.
On October 14, 2008, Mitsubishi UFJ's 21% stake in Morgan Stanley was completed, causing a recovery in Morgan Stanley's stock price.
During the October 2008 stock market volatility, concerns over the completion of the Mitsubishi deal caused a dramatic fall in Morgan Stanley's stock price.
In October 2008, Morgan Stanley itself was at risk of failure, with rapidly changing prospects, regulatory model and ownership stakes.
In 2008, Morgan Stanley's Process Driven Trading unit reportedly lost nearly $300 million in one day due to a short squeeze. The bubble's collapse was a central component of the 2008 financial crisis.
In 2008, the financial crisis occurred.
On January 13, 2009, Morgan Stanley's Global Wealth Management Group merged with Citi's Smith Barney to establish Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Morgan Stanley held 51% ownership, while Citi had 49%.
In March 2009, FINRA announced that Morgan Stanley would pay over $7 million for misconduct in handling the accounts of 90 retirees in the Rochester, New York area.
On October 19, 2009, Morgan Stanley announced the sale of Van Kampen to Invesco for $1.5 billion, while retaining the Morgan Stanley brand.
In 2009, Morgan Stanley purchased Smith Barney from Citigroup, creating Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, the largest wealth management business in the world.
Until 2009, Morgan Stanley's asset management activities were principally conducted under the Morgan Stanley and Van Kampen brands.
In April 2010, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $14 million related to an attempt to conceal prohibited trading activity in oil futures.
On August 22, 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg News Service and published indicated that Morgan Stanley borrowed $107.3 billion from the Fed during the 2008 crisis, the most of any bank.
On April 25, 2012, Garth R. Peterson, a high-ranking real estate executive at Morgan Stanley in China, pleaded guilty to violating U.S. federal anti-corruption laws for secretly acquiring millions of dollars' worth of property investments for himself and a Chinese government official, who steered business to Morgan Stanley.
On May 31, 2012, Morgan Stanley exercised its option to buy an additional 14% stake in the joint venture with Citi.
On August 7, 2012, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $4.8 million in fines to settle a price-fixing scandal that allegedly cost New Yorkers $300 million. Morgan Stanley did not admit any wrongdoing.
In June 2013, Morgan Stanley announced it had received all regulatory approvals to acquire Citigroup's remaining 35% stake in Smith Barney and would finalize the deal.
On September 29, 2013, Morgan Stanley announced a partnership with Longchamp Asset Management and La Française AM to specialize in distribution of UCITS hedge funds and alternative investments respectively.
In November 2013, Morgan Stanley announced that it would invest $1 billion to help improve affordable housing.
In 2013, in the case of Morgan Stanley v. Skowron, a United States District Judge held that an employee engaging in insider trading must repay his employer the full $31 million in compensation he was paid during his period of faithlessness because he violated the company's code of conduct.
In February 2014, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $1.25 billion to the US government as a penalty for concealing the full risk associated with mortgage securities with the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
In July 2014, Morgan Stanley's Asian private equity arm announced it had raised around $1.7 billion for its fourth fund in the area.
In September 2014, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $95 million to resolve a lawsuit by the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi (MissPERS) and the West Virginia Investment Management Board. The lawsuit accused Morgan Stanley of misleading investors in mortgage-backed securities.
In May 2015, Morgan Stanley was fined $2 million by FINRA for short interest reporting and rule violations that occurred for more than six years.
In December 2015, it was reported that Morgan Stanley would be cutting around 25 percent of its fixed income jobs before month end.
In January 2016, Morgan Stanley reported that it had offices in "more than" 43 countries.
In February 2016, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $3.2 billion to settle with state and federal authorities over the creation of mortgage-backed bonds before the 2008 financial crisis.
In August 2016, Morgan Stanley Hong Kong Securities Ltd. was fined HK$18.5 million ($2.4 million) by Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission for violating Hong Kong's Code of Conduct, including failing to avoid a conflict of interest between principal and agency trading.
In December 2016, a unit of Morgan Stanley paid $7.5 million to settle customer protection rule violations.
In January 2017, Morgan Stanley was fined $13 million for overbilling and violating investor asset safeguarding custody rules, agreeing to pay the fine without commenting on the charges.
In March 2018, Morgan Stanley acquired Mesa West, a U.S. commercial real estate credit platform.
In December 2018, FINRA announced a $10 million fine against Morgan Stanley for failures in its anti-money laundering compliance, citing violations of the Bank Secrecy Act over a five-year period.
In 2018, Douglas E. Greenberg, a broker at Morgan Stanley, was fired following reports that four women from Lake Oswego, Oregon, sought police protection against him over 15 years due to allegations of harassment, threats, and assault. It was also reported that Morgan Stanley executives were aware of these allegations, including arrests and a federal subpoena, but did not take action. The story was dubbed a #MeToo moment for Portland's financial service industry.
In February 2019, Morgan Stanley announced the acquisition of Solium Capital, a manager of employee stock plans, for $900 million.
In April 2019, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $150 million to settle charges that it had misled two large California public pension funds about the risks of mortgage-backed securities. California's Attorney General stated that Morgan Stanley prioritized profits over teachers and public employees by misrepresenting the risk of their products, though Morgan Stanley denied wrongdoing.
In November 2019, Morgan Stanley fired or placed on leave four traders suspected of securities mismarking. The firm believed that $100–140 million in losses were concealed by the mismarking of the securities' value.
In February 2020, Morgan Stanley announced a deal to acquire E*Trade for $13 Billion.
In February 2020, Morgan Stanley announced a deal to acquire E-Trade for $13 billion.
In May 2020, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay a $5 million penalty to settle allegations made by the SEC that the corporation provided misleading information to some clients in the retail wrap fee programs regarding trade-execution services and transaction costs.
In October 2020, Morgan Stanley announced a deal to acquire Eaton Vance.
In October 2020, Morgan Stanley announced the acquisition of Eaton Vance.
In October 2020, Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of E*Trade for $13 billion.
In October 2020, Morgan Stanley finalized its acquisition of E-Trade, a deal initially announced in February 2020, for $13 billion. This was the largest acquisition by a U.S. bank since the 2008 financial crisis.
In March 2021, Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of Eaton Vance, increasing its client assets.
In March 2021, Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of Eaton Vance, which was announced in October 2020. Following the acquisition, Morgan Stanley had $5.4 trillion in client assets across its Wealth Management and Investment Management segments.
In September 2022, the SEC announced charges against Morgan Stanley due to the firm's extensive failures, over a five-year period, to protect the personal identifying information of approximately 15 million customers. Morgan Stanley agreed to pay a $35 million penalty to settle the SEC charges.
In December 2022, Morgan Stanley conducted layoffs.
On May 2, 2023, it was reported that Morgan Stanley planned to cut approximately 3,000 positions by the end of June, which is about 5 percent of the bank's workforce. Financial advisors and support staff were to be excluded from these cuts.
In November 2023, the Attorney General of Connecticut William Tong announced a $6.5 million settlement with Morgan Stanley for compromising the personal information of its customers due to negligent security practices.
In 2023, Bloomberg announced that Morgan Stanley expected more layoffs.
In 2023, Morgan Stanley ranked No. 61 in the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue and No. 30 in Forbes Global 2000.
In January 2024, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $249 million to settle a criminal investigation and a related Security and Exchange Commission probe related to the unauthorized disclosure of block trades to investors, by the bank's supervisor for such trades and another employee.
In October 2024, Morgan Stanley signed an agreement with Climeworks, a direct air capture startup, to purchase 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal for an undisclosed amount.
As of December 2024, Morgan Stanley is mainly owned by institutional investors, holding 62.00% of the shares.
In January 2025, Morgan Stanley announced its decision to withdraw from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, while affirming its dedication to facilitating the global transition to net-zero carbon emissions.
In February 2025, a group of 17 U.S. state attorneys general criticized Morgan Stanley for making improper or inadequate disclosures about investments in China.
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