Morgan Stanley’s staff and clients will be barred from entering the investment bank’s New York offices if they are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
According to a person familiar with the matter, unvaccinated employees will need to work remotely.
The policy comes into effect next month, in a move aimed to allow the lifting of other Covid-related rules.
Last week, the Wall Street giant’s chief executive called on workers to return to the office.
An internal memo said: “Starting July 12 all employees, contingent workforce, clients and visitors will be required to attest to being fully vaccinated to access Morgan Stanley buildings in New York City and Westchester.”
The move will allow the company to remove restrictions in offices on face coverings and social distancing.
The policy currently operates on an honor system, but the bank may later decide to require proof of vaccination status.
Morgan Stanley had already implemented so-called “vaccine-only” workspaces in some departments, including institutional securities and wealth management.
Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman said: “If you can go into a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office.”
Speaking at a conference, James Gorman said he would be “very disappointed” if US-based workers had not returned by September.
It came as a number of banks are taking a tough position on home-working.
Jamie Dimon, the boss of America’s biggest bank JP Morgan, recently said he wanted US staff back in the office from July.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs bankers were instructed to report their vaccine status ahead of returning to their desks earlier this month.
In December, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency, gave the go-ahead for companies to bar unvaccinated staff from workplaces, subject to exceptions for religious and medical reasons.
Barclays’ chief executive Jes Staley, said in February that working from home was “not sustainable”. At a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum, he said: “It will increasingly be a challenge to maintain the culture and collaboration that these large financial institutions seek to have and should have.”
Colt Defense has filed for bankruptcy protection, as it grapples with a heavy debt load.
The Connecticut-based gunmaker says it plans to continue its normal business operations during its restructuring.
The company is struggling with more than $350 million in debt, as well as waning sales.
Colt’s fortunes were hurt by the loss of a contract in 2013 to supply the US army with its M4 assault rifle.
Keith Maib, the company’s chief restructuring officer, said: “Colt remains open for business and our team will continue to be sharply focused on delivering for our customers and being a good commercial partner to our vendors and suppliers.”
Colt has been plagued by financial problems in recent months.
In November 2014, Colt took out a $70 million loan from Morgan Stanley to help make an interest payment.
But in May 2015 it missed a $10 million interest payment.
Last year sales of Colt’s sports rifles and handguns fell 30%.
The company has a long US history, known for making American firearms for more than 150 years.
Colt previously filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992, emerging again two years later.
Alibaba will meet with investors next week as it considers issuing its first US bond sale.
The Chinese e-commerce giant has hired Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan to manage the sale.
Alibaba would offer dollar-denominated notes to institutional investors, the company said in a statement.
Alibaba considers issuing first US bond sale
Reports suggest that Alibaba would sell $8 billion in bonds after its record public listing just two months ago.
News of Alibaba’s bond sale comes after it made $9 billion in sales on Singles’ Day in China this week, which is considered the world’s biggest online sales day.
In September, the company’s initial public offering in New York was the biggest in the world, raising $25 billion and its stock is up nearly 70% since then.
Alibaba will hold meetings next week in Boston, New York, Hong Kong, London and Singapore.
Moody’s has given the proposed bond an A1 credit rating.
Morgan Stanley has reported an 87% jump in profits to $1.65 billion in Q3 2014.
Trading of currencies, commodities and bonds was a big driver of profits, as was wealth management – advising high earners on their finances.
On October 16, rival bank Goldman Sachs reported a 50% rise in profits.
Banks’ bond trading activities have reportedly benefitted from problems at bond giant Pimco.
Morgan Stanley has reported an 87 percent jump in profits to $1.65 billion in Q3 2014
In September, trading superstar Bill Gross made a surprise exit from the world’s biggest bond company.
The departure of Bill Gross from Pimco reportedly prompted investors to withdraw billions of dollars from the company, money which has found its way to other trading businesses.
Morgan Stanley’s total revenue for the quarter rose 12% to $8.91 billion.
Bond trading revenues were up 19.4% to $997 million. Wealth management revenue rose 9% to $3.79 billion.
“We are well positioned to create superior returns for our shareholders, particularly as the US economy continues to strengthen,” Morgan Stanley’s chief executive and chairman James P. Gorman said in a statement.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have reported contrasting results for the first quarter of 2014.
Goldman Sachs’ neat earnings fell to $2.03 billion from $2.26 billion after a drop in revenues from its bonds, currency and trading business.
However, Morgan Stanley’s profit rose to $1.45 billion, compared with $981 million a year ago.
Revenues rose in all of its three business segments.
Goldman Sachs makes most of its money from trading and investing in capital markets.
In the first quarter, its revenue from fixed income, currency and commodities trading fell 11% to $2.85 billion compared with a year earlier.
Morgan Stanley’s profit rose to $1.45 billion in 2014 Q1
“We are generally pleased with our performance for the quarter, given the operating environment,” said Goldman Sachs’ chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein.
“Market sentiment shifted throughout the quarter, constraining client activity in various parts of our franchise,” he said.
Investment banking and investment management “generated solid results”, he added.
The bank’s net revenues from investment banking were $1.78 billion, 13% higher than the first quarter of 2013.
Its financial advisory service saw 41% higher net revenues, of $682 million.
Goldman Sachs’ results follow a big drop in profits in the fourth quarter last year.
Morgan Stanley’s trading, mergers and acquisition advisory and stock sales division grew the most during the first quarter.
The division, called institutional securities, earned $1.2 billion, compared with $1.1 billion last year.
Earnings for its wealth management division were $691 million, compared with $597 million a year ago, and investment management income jumped to $263 million from $187 million.
Morgan Stanley’s strong results come after a fourth-quarter reduction in bond trading revenue that more than halved its earnings.
Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay $1.25 billion to settle a lawsuit over the sale of mortgage-backed securities.
The money will be paid to the US regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage guarantee firms.
US taxpayers had to rescue the two firms in 2008 in a bailout worth $187 billion during the financial crisis.
Morgan Stanley joins other banks, including JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, in settling with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
The banking giant will add an additional $150m to its legal reserves as a result of the settlement with the US regulator.
The US government filed lawsuits against 17 financial institutions in 2011 over the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities.
The mortgage securities became toxic when the US housing market collapsed.
Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay $1.25 billion to settle a lawsuit over the sale of mortgage-backed securities
In December 2013, Germany’s biggest lender, Deutsche Bank, agreed to pay $1.9 billion to settle a lawsuit with FHFA.
The German bank had been accused of breaking state and federal laws when it sold financial products backed by mortgage loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 2005 and 2007.
One month prior, in November 2013, US bank JP Morgan Chase agreed to a $13 billion settlement with the FHFA for misleading investors during the housing crisis.
It was the largest settlement ever between the US government and a corporation.
At the time, JP Morgan Chase acknowledged it had made serious misrepresentations to the public, but said it did not violate US laws.
Morgan Stanley’s quarterly net income for the October-to-December period last year was more than halved by heavy legal fees relating to the mortgage-backed securities.
The lender’s fourth quarter earnings, which were reported earlier this month, were $433m, down from $982 million a year earlier.
Legal expenses were $1.2 billion.
Citigroup and JP Morgan were also affected by legal costs stemming from the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Morgan Stanley said its legal costs were “specifically litigation and investigations related to residential mortgage-backed securities and the credit crisis”.
Signs of economic weakness around the globe and Europe’s intensifying debt crisis are unnerving investors, who have been piling out of riskier investments like commodities and equities for the perceived safety of higher-rated government bonds.
U.S. banking stocks are heading into a bear market as Europe’s debt crisis pressures the sector. The KBW Bank index , which measures the performance of 24 U.S. banks, is down 16 percent from a peak in March. The index was down 1.2 percent just after the open on Monday.
Morgan Stanley has come under pressure as bond markets treat the bank as a junk-rated company, and the higher borrowing costs could already be putting it at a disadvantage even before an expected ratings downgrade. The bank’s stock is off 40 percent since late March.
“We may well have a snap back rally on the equity side but I don’t think it will be a big one, there is still a lot of caution out there,” said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago.
“All we’ve really done is seen some short covering here in the stock indexes and we are just stable, bonds are still very elevated.”
With little on the economic or corporate calendar Monday, investors are taking most of their cues from any comments out of Europe.
“Europe is front and center, back, left and right,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG.
Germany’s DAX lost 0.9% to 5,993 and Switzerland’s SMI shed 0.6% to 5,741, though France’s CAC-40 managed to rise 0.5% to 2,968.49. Markets in Britain were closed for a holiday.
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York said he was watching 1,275 as a support level on the S&P 500 after the index broke through its 200-day moving average on Friday following the worst decline for the index in 7 months.
“If we close under that tonight, then the market is headed lower in the short-term, possibly by 3 or 4 percent,” he said.
In a potential boost for markets looking for measures to end the debt crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pressing for much more ambitious measures, including a central authority to manage euro-area finances, and major new powers for the European Commission, European Parliament and European Court of Justice.
Three leading Portuguese banks said on Monday they would draw on funds provided under the country’s 78 billion-euro ($96-billion) international bailout to meet tough new capital requirements as they struggle with the country’s debt crisis.
Stock trends
Investors sold shares in Asia as well, including stock in Sony, which fell below 1,000 yen for the first time since 1980 — the year after it introduced the iconic Walkman portable cassette player.
Japan’s Nikkei 224 index dropped 1.7% to close at 8,295.63, its lowest finish since Nov. 28, 2011. The broader Topix index ended below the 700 mark for the first time since December 1983, Kyodo News Agency said.
Japan’s shares fell sharply on Monday, with the broader Topix index hitting a 28-year low as investors reacted to the disappointing Friday U.S. jobs data.
“While we are not down 20 percent and in official bear market territory, we believe that we have entered a bear market,” wrote Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial in a note on Monday.
“Equities have not responded to oversold conditions or to very attractive valuations versus bonds, and we must take that as a warning,” he said.
There are also worries about slowing growth in emerging markets such as China and India. Recent reports out of China last week showed the manufacturing sector contracted more than expected in May.
The S&P 500 (SPX) lost 3 points, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq (COMP) moved down 3 points, or 0.1%. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) dropped 24 points, or 0.2%.
Facebook IPO aftermath
Companies: Shares of Facebook (FB), which have gotten hammered since the company’s IPO, edged slightly lower.
Groupon (GRPN) shares added 0.6% after dropping sharply Friday. The online discount service, which has been dogged with questions about its accounting practices since its initial public offering in November, ended its lock-up period Friday, meaning that insiders who own shares are now able to sell them.
Currencies and commodities
The dollar rose against the euro and Japanese yen, but fell versus the British pound.
Oil for July delivery lost 23 cents to $83.47 a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery lost $2.60 to $1,614.60 an ounce.
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