Morgan Stanley's Asia wealth business goes local

Singapore

MORGAN Stanley, one of the largest US banks, has incorporated its Asia wealth management unit in Hong Kong to get a larger slice of the region's burgeoning private bank business.

The Wall Street titan's Morgan Stanley Asia International Ltd is set up as a restricted licence bank in Hong Kong and its Singapore wealth management business operates as a branch of the Hong Kong bank, said Nick Chan, managing director.

With this, Morgan Stanley is the only global wealth manager whose Asia business is managed via a locally incorporated bank, sa…