Morgan Stanley smacked with $2.9 mln fine

The NASD on Tuesday said it fined Morgan Stanley $2.9 million for what it called "widespread" violations of the regulator's rules. The NASD said the investment bank and its brokerage arm committed numerous violations from 1999 to 2006 of rules set by the NASD, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

It said the failures include being slow to report or misreporting thousands of stock and bond trades, and not executing hundreds of customer trades at the best prices, among others.

Morgan Stanley did not admit wrongdoing, but consented to the NASD's findings. It will take corrective actions to improve regulatory compliance, and make restitution to some corporate and municipal bond customers. The penalty includes a censure.

Tom Gira, an NASD executive vice president, in a statement said Morgan Stanley was "highly cooperative" with the probe, and that its cooperation is reflected in the sanctions.

In a statement, Morgan Stanley said it was pleased to settle, and is addressing issues raised in the settlement. Sure, sure. We’ll bet a bottle of vintage Chateau de Turtle Bay on it.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-09-05T153659Z_01_N05351464_RTRIDST_0_FINANCIAL-MORGANSTANLEY-NASD-UPDATE-1.XML