The agency said that its censure and $325,000 fine reflected the “extraordinary cooperation” of Morgan Stanley.
“The firm retained outside counsel to investigate, and correct, the historical stock ratings and beneficial ownership disclosure issues before the issues were detected by any regulator, and the firm self-reported both issues to Finra,” the agency stated. “In addition, the firm provided substantial assistance to Finra in its investigation, including by identifying the causes, scope and impact of the disclosure errors and omissions.”
This is not the first time Morgan Stanley has run afoul of reporting rules. In August 2010, Finra alleged that Morgan Stanley published research reports that contained inaccurate disclosures that were conflict-of-interest related and failed to include required price charts, the filing said. For that, the firm consented to a censure and an $800,000 fine.