Morgan Stanley slashes US residential business…

Morgan Stanley will scale back its residential mortgage operations in the US in response to the continued deterioration of the mortgage markets. The firm will discontinue its UK-based residential mortgage lending business, Advantage Home Loans. About 1,000 employees in the US and the UK will be affected by this restructuring. These cutbacks were announced in mid-February.

"Given the continued dislocation in the mortgage markets, we have restructured our residential mortgage business to ensure we are appropriately positioned for the environment going forward," said Anthony Meola, chief operating officer of the US residential business at Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley will continue to service mortgage loans in the US through its Saxon Mortgage Services platform, based in Fort Worth, Texas. The firm will still offer residential mortgages to its retail brokerage clients through Morgan Stanley Credit Corporation.

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