Morgan Stanley has bought Deutsche Bank's bulk commodities trading book dealing in coal, iron ore and freight forward contracts to expand in commodities derivatives, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The deal marks an apparent return to iron ore for the Wall Street bank, which exited the market by last year, and an expansion in coal and freight.The acquisition will broaden Morgan Stanley's customer base, making it the counterparty for structured transactions with a wide range of end-users.Expansion of its derivatives presence comes at a critical time for the bank, whose physical business has drawn intense scrutiny from U.S. regulators and politicians concerned about the involvement of Wall Street banks in physical commodity markets.Facing growing pressure and tighter regulations, the bank is offloading its interest in Transmontaigne, a U.S.-based oil storage and transport company, and selling its physical oil business to Russian gas producer Rosneft.
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides its products and services to a range of clients and customers, including corporations, governments, financial institutions and individuals. Shares of MS traded higher by 0.4% or $0.13/share to $32.62. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $23.83 and as high as $33.52. On average, 10748100 shares of MS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 5947247.
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