Morgan Stanley and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group have scaled back plans to fully merge their securities operations in Japan, citing "recent trends in the global financial regulatory environment" in a jointly released November 18 update to the original plan announced in March. Rather than create a single joint venture, the parent firms will continue to operate two subsidiaries.
The first, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities (already being referred to as MUMSS), will contain the existing wholesale and retail business of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities while gaining the investment banking operation of Morgan Stanley Japan.
The second, Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities (MSMS), will include the remaining non-investment banking operations of Morgan Stanley Japan – namely capital markets underwriting, sales and trading, securitization and prime brokerage. The idea is that MUMSS will take the role of deal origination through a combination of Morgan Stanley’s investment banking...
