Morgan Stanley to award more bonuses up front

New York

MORGAN Stanley is giving employees a greater portion of their bonuses up front as the bank seeks to structure pay in line with peers and lower expenses in future years.

The compensation committee of Morgan Stanley's board agreed to defer future bonus pools at an average rate of 50 per cent, down from about 80 per cent last year, the company said on Friday in a regulatory filing. The New York-based firm also will take a fourth-quarter charge of as much as US$1.2 billion to cover the cost of accelerating vesting of deferred pay awarded in previous years, according to the filing.