Central Bank of Russia Cancels Banking Licence of Morgan Stanley

The cancellation is part of Morgan Stanley’s efforts to scale down its business in Russia.

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which regulates the financial markets of the country, has issued an order this Wednesday revoking the banking licence of Morgan Stanley Bank LLC, effective from today, the 27th of May, 2020.

In particular, the First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, Chairman of the Banking Supervision Committee D. Tulin ordered the cancellation of Morgan Stanley Bank Limited Liability Company’s licence this Wednesday to conduct banking operations with a credit institution.

However, in a statement provided to Finance Magnates today, the bank said that although it will be scaling down its business, it will still have an office in Russia and employ people within the country and will still offer investment banking and capital market activities.

“Going forward, Morgan Stanley will maintain its longstanding on-the-ground presence in Moscow and will be operating its investment banking and global capital markets activities in Russia through its subsidiary LLC Morgan Stanley,” a spokesperson from Morgan Stanley said.

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Morgan Stanley 2018 review prompted Russia scale-down

Today’s announcement from the central bank follows on from Morgan Stanley announcing back in 2018 that it would be winding down its operations in Russia, following a review of its business in the country.

Morgan Stanley has had a presence in Russia since the 1990s and received a banking licence in June of 2005. However, the multinational investment bank has decided that it will be scaling down its operations in the country, and the licence cancellation announced today is a technicality of that move.

As Finance Magnates reported at the time, unnamed sources initially revealed that the global financial conglomerate was going to be shutting down its currency and equities trading and sales desks in Russia in the near future.

In a recent report, the Russian operations of the bank outlined its plans for restructuring its business, with the decision for voluntary liquidation made on the 31st of March 2020. The company filed to have its banking licence annulled with the central bank, alongside its securities market licence, in April of this year.