1matter on the record across its booking centres, 2020
1.6/558 UHNW client ratings across its booking centres
The editor's opinion
Why Morgan Stanley rates 3.0 out of 5
Morgan Stanley rates 3.0 out of 5. Its three rated booking centres, in the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore, all hold three stars, so weighting them by the UHNW client ratings each has received leaves the overall rating at the same level. Its booking entities carry one matter on the record, the most recent in 2020; each is listed below with the centre it concerns. Across its booking centres, 58 UHNW client ratings average 1.6 out of 5.
Noam Cohen, Editor, Bank IntelligenceReviewed 6 November 2026, Q4 2026 edition. Each booking centre is rated on its own file, from the public record and what clients and their advisers tell us in confidence. The overall rating brings those ratings together; retail products, branches and apps play no part.
Where Morgan Stanley stands out
A minor regulatory finding in the last ten years, with no serious sanction. United States
Custody assets are protected by statute in the booking centre, with conditions a family should read. United States and Hong Kong
Deposits are covered by a statutory protection scheme. United States
Ownership and control are fully public. All centres
No politically exposed person holds a significant stake. All centres
No final adverse finding against this licence holder in ten years of regulatory and court records. Hong Kong and Singapore
Most fees are published. Singapore
What to weigh
Only a summary of the custody terms is public. United States and Hong Kong
Few private banking services are published for this booking unit. United States
No public policy on third-party payments or retrocessions. United States and Hong Kong
An owner's home jurisdiction carries a mixed official assessment against money laundering. All centres
Remediation of past findings is not documented. United States
The bank does not say whether it runs a desk for external asset managers. United States and Singapore
Only part of the private banking range is published for this booking unit. Hong Kong
No fee schedule is published; pricing is given on request. Hong Kong
The file does not yet confirm deposit protection for this booking unit. Hong Kong
Deposit protection is minimal. Singapore
Almost no private banking services are published for this booking unit. Singapore
This file does not yet show how custody assets are ring-fenced by law in this centre. Singapore
The custody agreement is not public, so its terms could not be reviewed. Singapore
United States · Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association35 client ratings · 60% of the weight
Hong Kong · Morgan Stanley Bank Asia Limited12 client ratings · 21% of the weight
Singapore · Morgan Stanley Bank Asia Limited, Singapore Branch11 client ratings · 19% of the weight
PPLI.com rating, weighted across the centres3.0
Each booking centre keeps its own rating, set on its own file. The overall rating is the average of those ratings, weighted by the number of UHNW client ratings each centre has received. A centre whose rating is still in preparation is shown but not counted.
The rating expresses the opinion of PPLI.com on the date shown. It is not a statement of fact about the bank, not a credit rating, not a forecast of failure and not investment advice.
The booking centres
Morgan Stanley in 3 booking centres
Each booking centre is a separate legal entity, with its own licence, deposit protection, services and fees, and keeps its own PPLI.com rating. Everything on file for them is brought together on this page; open a centre for its own file.
What regulators, prosecutors and courts have decided against the booking entities of Morgan Stanley, gathered from the files of all its booking centres, with the status, the amounts as published and a link to the original document. Each entry names the centre it concerns. Claims and investigations still under way are marked as open.
20208 October 2020
Civil money penalty for failures in overseeing the decommissioning of hardware holding customer data
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency imposed a USD 60 million civil money penalty on Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association and its sister bank Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. in a consent order dated 8 October 2020, under which the banks neither admitted nor denied the findings. It found that they failed to oversee the 2016 decommissioning of two wealth management data centres, with no proper inventory of customer data on the devices and poor selection and monitoring of vendors, and had similar vendor control deficiencies in a 2019 decommissioning, in breach of the interagency information security guidelines. Customers were notified of both incidents.
Matters concerning other entities in the group (2)
20249 December 2024
Settled charges for failing to stop financial advisers moving client funds without authorisation
The SEC settled charges on 9 December 2024 against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, the US wealth management sister company of Morgan Stanley Bank Asia Limited, which paid a USD 15 million penalty and accepted a censure, a cease-and-desist order and a compliance consultant without admitting or denying the findings. Until at least December 2022 the firm did not screen external ACH payment instructions for matches between an adviser's name and the payee, so hundreds of unauthorised transfers by advisers from client accounts between May 2015 and July 2022 went unnoticed, and affected clients had already been compensated.
Shown for context only: the decision concerns Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, not Morgan Stanley Bank Asia Limited, Singapore Branch, and does not count towards the rating of the booking centre or of the group.
Reprimand and HK$224 million fine for IPO sponsor failures (Tianhe Chemicals, 2014 listing)
The SFC fined Morgan Stanley Asia Limited, the group's Hong Kong securities firm, for failing to follow due diligence interview guidelines as joint sponsor of Tianhe's listing. It does not attach to Morgan Stanley Bank Asia Limited. Recorded for context only.
Shown for context only: it concerns a different company in the same group.
SFC reprimands and fines Morgan Stanley Asia Limited $224 million for sponsor failures
Independent reviewer engaged to examine Hong Kong sponsor policies and procedures.
What clients meet at Morgan Stanley across its booking centres, read from complaint registers, ombudsman decisions and court records, independent reporting and what clients and their advisers tell PPLI.com in confidence. Announcements by the bank, awards and marketing material are left out.
UHNW client ratings
1.6 out of 5, based on 58 client ratings across its booking centres.
United States1.4 out of 535 ratings
Hong Kong2.1 out of 512 ratings
Singapore1.7 out of 511 ratings
What clients report
United States. The CFPB consumer complaint database lists 1,310 complaints against Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC as of 6 November 2026, counted since the database began. That count relates to the group's broker-dealer, not to Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association. The one client-data incident is the 2016 decommissioning of two wealth management data centres, and a similar episode in 2019, in which devices holding customer data were retired without a proper inventory, and customers were notified of both. No claim by a private client against the bank has reached a published judgment.
Hong Kong. Press coverage reports no data breach or client-money incident naming the bank. The adverse matters in the group concern sister companies: the SFC's 2019 fine on Morgan Stanley Asia Limited for IPO sponsor failures, and the US broker-dealers' settlements over recordkeeping in 2022 and block trading in 2024.
Singapore. The only Trustpilot profile, for morganstanley.com, covers the US group rather than the Singapore business. The clearest client-money finding in the group concerns the US sister company Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where advisers made hundreds of unauthorised transfers from client accounts between May 2015 and July 2022, and the firm had compensated affected clients before the SEC settlement of December 2024.
Worth raising with the bank
United States. Ask whether the regulatory examinations of client screening reported in 2024 and the FINRA inquiry reported in July 2025 have led to any order or restriction affecting the private bank.
United States. Ask how the bank now inventories and wipes devices holding client data, given the OCC penalty of October 2020 over the 2016 and 2019 data centre decommissionings.
Singapore. Ask whether the branch screens external payment instructions for matches between an adviser's name and the payee, the control the SEC found missing at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in December 2024.
Singapore. Ask what capital and liquidity support Morgan Stanley Bank Asia Limited receives from the parent, since the group's published ratings table shows no rating for it.
Financial standing
Credit ratings published by the agencies for the companies named in the centre files, dated by the latest agency or bank document that confirms them
Benzinga, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported that FINRA requested information on how Morgan Stanley ranked the money laundering risk of wealth clients, including politically exposed persons, from October 2021 to September 2024, and that the firm said it was overhauling its client screening after Federal Reserve concerns.
WealthBriefing, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported that the SEC, the OCC and other Treasury offices were examining whether Morgan Stanley's wealth business adequately vetted clients for money laundering risk, including people cut off by E*Trade.
Fortune, carrying a Bloomberg story, reported that the SEC, the OCC and other agencies were pressing Morgan Stanley on its work with wealthy clients flagged for money laundering, and that the Federal Reserve had looked into those controls in 2023.
What it costs
What Morgan Stanley charges, centre by centre
Fees are set by each booking entity, so they are shown centre by centre. One of the three centres of Morgan Stanley publishes a fee schedule, read on 6 November 2026 from the documents linked under each table. To compare banks fairly we put every published fee in US dollars at the same indicative rates and apply it to the same reference amounts, then rate each fee against the average of the other banks that publish it. Five stars is the lowest fee, one star the highest. Terms a family actually negotiates are often different, and a bank can change its schedule at any time.
United States · Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National AssociationCentre file
Pricing not published
The fee document for this booking centre is being read and will be added in the next edition.
Hong Kong · Morgan Stanley Bank Asia LimitedCentre file
Pricing not published
No fee schedule is published for this booking centre.
Singapore · Morgan Stanley Bank Asia Limited, Singapore BranchCentre file
Fee
Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia (Singapore)
Other banks
Against the others
Equity tradecommission on a USD 250,000 trade, major exchange
Published in a form we cannot put on the same footing
Not in the published schedule: custody and safekeeping, discretionary mandate, advisory mandate, account maintenance, closing the account.
Third party payments. The schedule states: “we will receive trailer /distribution fees from the relevant mutual fund as an ongoing commission throughout the term”
How the comparison works: USD 25 million booked with the bank: half under a discretionary balanced mandate, half in custody with advice; 24 equity trades of USD 250,000 and 8 bond trades of USD 500,000 a year; 6 currency conversions of USD 1 million; 24 outgoing international transfers. Tiered fees are applied to those amounts tranche by tranche, stated minimums are applied, and amounts are converted at indicative rates of 2026-11-06. Read how we compare fees.
ControlWidely held; no shareholder with 10% or more Source (15 July 2026)
Holder of 10% or moreMitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., 24.12% in Morgan Stanley Source (15 July 2026)
Ownership is shown as published, with its date. It describes who owns the bank; it does not, by itself, suggest any wrongdoing by the bank or its owners.
Hong KongMorgan Stanley Bank Asia LimitedHKMA (licensed bank) · Locally incorporated subsidiary · LEI 549300OX8NDYIQ4DB571Licence: Licensed bank, incorporated in Hong Kong Source
Credit ratingsFitch AA- (stable outlook); Moody's Aa3 (stable outlook); S&P A+ (stable outlook) Rated entity: Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association
Offered at one or more booking centresOffered by the group, not confirmed at a centreNot located, which does not mean unavailable Checked on the bank's own pages for each centre.
Access and costs
Minimum relationshipUnited States:Not published Hong Kong:Not published Singapore:Not published
US personsUnited States: Accepted Hong Kong: Not published Singapore: Not published
Fee scheduleUnited States:Not published Hong Kong:Not published Singapore: Published, Disclosure Schedule_Jan 2026_HKSG (ENG) SourceCompared below
Third party paymentsUnited States: Not published Hong Kong: Not published Singapore: Published Source
Transfer out termsUnited States: Not published Hong Kong: Not published Singapore: Not published
Protection of client assets
Deposit protectionUnited States: National banks are FDIC insured: USD 250,000 per depositor, per bank, for each ownership category. Securities are not deposits. Hong Kong: Not published Singapore: Wholesale banks and merchant banks are not members of the SDIC Deposit Insurance Scheme, so deposits booked here carry no Singapore deposit insurance. Only eligible Singapore-dollar deposits are insured; deposits in US dollars or other currencies are not covered.
Custody lawUnited States: 12 CFR 9.13(b) requires a national bank to keep fiduciary account assets separate from the bank's own assets; securities at a broker-dealer are customer property under SIPA with SIPC protection. Re-use and lending are governed by account agreements and regulator rules rather than a single statute. Hong Kong: Client securities held by licensed or registered persons must be safeguarded under the Securities and Futures Ordinance and the Securities and Futures (Client Securities) Rules, as referenced in SFC Code of Conduct para 11.1. Singapore: Not published
Custody termsNot published
Before opening an account
Custody agreement. The applicable legal framework is set out above. Ask for the agreement that would govern your account and check how securities are titled, whether any sub-custodian is used, and when the bank may take a lien.
Trust accounts. The group describes fiduciary services. Ask whether the entity named in this profile can open the proposed trust account and which company would act as trustee, custodian and adviser. United States
Transferring assets out. Ask which positions can be transferred without selling them, who approves exceptions, and how charges are calculated for each position and market. United States and Hong Kong
A portfolio-backed credit line. If you intend to borrow against the portfolio, ask for the eligibility and haircut schedule, the margin-call timetable and the charges for holding or transferring pledged securities. Hong Kong
Cross-border eligibility. If a settlor, beneficiary or beneficial owner has U.S. ties, ask the named entity to confirm eligibility for your structure and which investment services it can provide. Singapore
Exit costs. The fee comparison shows USD 25 per position for a securities transfer. Ask what rate would apply to your mandate and whether the receiving bank or a sub-custodian would charge separately. See published fees. Singapore
Your experience
Rate Morgan Stanley
If you bank with Morgan Stanley in any of its booking centres, or advise clients who do, your experience forms part of its PPLI.com rating. Please say which centre you deal with. Every response is read by the editor and treated in strict confidence.
Before we publish a significant negative finding that is not already public, we give the bank the facts and time to comment, on the same timetable for every bank. Decisions of regulators and courts are shown as they were published. Corrections we verify are published with the date of the change. Write to [email protected] quoting the reference of the booking centre concerned: United States BK-US-MORGAN-STANLEY-PRIVATE-BANK-B4F338; Hong Kong BK-HK-MORGAN-STANLEY-HK-174ACD; Singapore BK-SG-MORGAN-STANLEY-SG-D1BC41.
Reviewing this file with us
Families and their advisers read this file before they open an account. It can only be as complete as the documents we can find, and much of what sets a private bank apart, from its custody terms to the way a client team works, is rarely published.
If you represent Morgan Stanley, one of our Bank Intelligence analysts can go through the file with you: correct anything that is out of date, add terms and documents that are not yet public, and set out what has improved since our last edition. The review is a paid engagement for the analyst's time and research.
The rating itself stays with our editor and follows what the documents show, so we cannot promise a particular result. When a review changes the file, this page notes that the bank took part, with the date and what was added.
Brought together by the PPLI.com research desk from the files of its booking centres and the public sources listed. The rating is our editorial opinion; read how the overall rating is built.
Important information. Editorial opinion of PPLI.com on the date shown, based on public information, client experience and editorial judgment. Not a statement of fact, a credit rating or investment, legal, tax or financial advice; verify with the bank and your own advisers before acting. No liability is accepted for reliance on this content. Bank names and logos are used for identification only. Ratings are updated every quarter. This is the Q4 2026 edition, and a rating can change between editions if something material happens. Full disclaimer
Rating signed by Noam Cohen, Editor, Bank IntelligenceReviewed 6 November 2026Methodology 2.4Overall rating weighted by UHNW client ratings
Read our Privacy Policy before submitting. Share only the information needed to describe your question; do not include medical records or account credentials.
