OREANDA-NEWS. Morgan Stanley has no plans to leave Russia, said media director, Morgan Stanley for Emerging Markets in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Gergi Vorosh. “Morgan Stanley isn't closing a business in Russia, this is fake news. We have worked in Russia for 25 years and plan to stay here”, Vorosh assured.

The report of the Russian subsidiary Morgan Stanley stated that the group plans to liquidate the bank (it will submit the relevant application to the Central Bank in the first quarter of 2020), refuse banking, brokerage and depositary licenses, and voluntarily liquidate the relevant business units. Morgan Stanley intends to transfer its business in Russia to a new company, which will not fall under licensing requirements and will deal with consulting services in the areas of investment and real estate.

According to Vorosh, this decision is connected only with the issues of banking regulation. “We were a bank subject to appropriate regulation. We will no longer have a regulated bank, but for most of our business areas - corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets - this is not necessary. We simply return to the model that we had in Russia since 1994, when we started working here until 2006”, Vorosh added.

The representative of Morgan Stanley in Russia clarified to the Russian media that the new model "should be more efficient": "This is the usual business structure for investment banks". Morgan Stanley wrote in the statements that his changes in the economic situation could have a great influence on his financial situation in Russia. The bank noted that emerging markets, including Russia, are subject to “economic, political, social, judicial and legislative risks other than those of more developed markets”. “The laws and regulations governing the conduct of business in Russia can change quickly, there is a possibility of ambiguous interpretation”, the bank pointed out.