• Home
• /
• Business

Morgan Stanley opens DIFC office

DUBAI — Morgan Stanley yesterday officially opened its office at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) — its first office in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Speaking in Dubai yesterday John J. Mack, Chairman and CEO, of Morgan Stanley said the Middle East region is an area of key strategic focus for the firm. The Dubai office will offer services in all their international business portfolio, such as investment banking, capital markets, sales and trading, commodities, investment management, and private wealth management.

“We are starting with the entire range of our offerings in the region because this region is fast emerging strategically very important for us,” Mack said.

Replying to a question from Khaleej Times, Mac said the Morgan Stanley's new management team has the full backing of the board. Morgan Stanley is recovering from a year-long turmoil in which its chief executive Phil Purcell (who had become CEO after the 1997 merger of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter) and many of his top lieutenants along with dozens of senior bankers and brokers left the company.

The new Chairman and CEO said the company's strategy to run a diversified business that includes asset management businesses as well as its retail brokerage and core investment banking franchise has the full support of the board.

Mack, since taking over as Chairman and CEO, has launched a multi-million-dollar cost-cutting campaign. Mack has cut down more than 1,000 jobs so far living up to the nickname "Mack the Knife" which he had earned during his earlier stint with Morgan Stanley in 1990.

As part of the cost-cutting, he sold the firm's aircraft-leasing fleet for $2.5 billion, installed a new management team and replaced most of the directors on the company's board. Mack said his initiatives will be: launch more hedge-fund and other "alternative" investment products, reorganise retail brokerage and take more trading risk.

The asset management division launched 11 new products during the quarter (including six in alternative investments), fired its lowest-producing brokers and added staff in lucrative trading-related areas such as equity derivatives and international mortgages, as well as in prime brokerage and acquisition finance.

Speaking about the falling ranking of Morgan Stanley in fees from advising on mergers and acquisitions, Mack said that it was no cause for concern in the immediate future.

He said that in the current rankings, his company has taken a beating mainly due to the purchase of BellSouth Corp. by AT&T Inc. for about $83 billion including stock and debt. Evercore Partners, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Rohatyn Associates advised AT&T on the transaction. Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised BellSouth.