Morgan Stanley 1128083

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley operates in 42 countries, and has more than 1300 offices and 60,000 employees.[2] The company reports US$304 billion in assets under management or supervision.[3] It is headquartered in the Morgan Stanley Building, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.[4]

The corporation, formed by J.P. Morgan & Co. partners Henry S. Morgan (grandson of J.P. Morgan), Harold Stanley and others, came into existence on September 16, 1935, in response to the Glass-Steagall Act that required the splitting of commercial and investment banking businesses. In its first year the company operated with a 24% market share (US$1.1 billion) in public offerings and private placements. The main areas of business for the firm today are Global Wealth Management, Institutional Securities, and Investment Management.

The company found itself in the midst of a management crisis starting in March 2005[5] that resulted in a loss of a number of the firm's staff[6] and ultimately saw the firing of its then CEO Philip Purcell three months later.