Courtesy of Reuters (http://eb.cx/14)

HSBC mulling bid for Morgan Stanley

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - The world's second-largest bank, British-based HSBC Holdings Plc, is mulling a bid for Morgan Stanley, the U.S.'s second-biggest securities house, the Independent on Sunday newspaper said. The British paper said HSBC Chairman John Bond was being pressed by senior directors within the group's investment banking division.

HSBC was not immediately available for comment on the report. On Friday Morgan Stanley's leadership team sought to rally support as a group of shareholders campaigned for Chief Executive Philip Purcell to be ousted and a key figure resigned from the firm.

Morgan Stanley's two new co-presidents, appointed a week ago, met employees, clients and investors. The company also said on Friday that Stephan Newhouse, who was replaced as president in the management shake-up, had resigned after considering another, unspecified job at the firm.

This is what I've been waiting for now for a while. US firms are priced low with a low dollar and UK firms are sitting on cash with a high pound. It's the perfect time for takeovers to start. I'm only surprised it's taken this long. I forsee many more to come.

Piss off Brits!! Keep your hands off my companies!!! :D :jk: :jk:

yeah im shocked the likes of hsbc and barclays have waited so long to do some takeovers given the exchange rate.

Didn't Barclays recently buy a South African bank?

i think they were just given approval to buy it I don't think they have actually done it yet.

I bet this is a shock to some Americans. There was an artical in the times today about the Boss of Morgan Stanley being attacked by lots of senior folk for not being very good. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1551981,00.html


Directors turn on US bank boss



DISSIDENT directors are this week intent on stepping up their campaign to oust Morgan Stanley chief Philip Purcell from the leading investment bank, writes Dominic Rushe in New York.
The group broke cover with their campaign last week, publishing a letter in the Wall Street Journal calling for Purcell’s head.



The dissident investors own 11m shares in Morgan Stanley and have become angered by Purcell’s management-style and the bank’s underperforming share price. They are urging large shareholders to back their call to ditch Purcell.

Jonathan Chenevix-Trench, head of Morgan Stanley's Institutional Securities Group in Europe, said that in Europe the bank’s clients and investors had so far reacted to the spat with “bemusement, bemusement and sympathy”.

Analysts said that the longer the fight goes on, the more tenuous Purcell’s position becomes.



I think if HSBC bid then it may be a done deal at the right price.

Buy buy buy!!
I would prefer it if we plowed into Europe and Asia though but then the exchange rate isnt so favourable.

Now is definately the time to do it, hopefully they succeed.

revenge is sweet

eh?

after losing all our carefully nutured talent in the 80s

its a shame they just announced 1000 job cuts at Canary Wharf HQ, Chairman says they will save 20k per person by outsourcing to South East Asia

this is a far grerater negative externality than the positive buyout

"FEARS that HSBC is set to move more UK jobs to low-cost centres in Asia heightened last week when a senior executive at the bank revealed plans to double its back-office workforce in Asia within three years.

Alan Jebson, chief operating officer at the Canada Square-based bank, said he had a target to save more than £518m by December 2007 and was increasing efforts to move to offshore locations.

``I would be surprised if we had less than 15 (global service centres) in three years' time, and very surprised if we had less than 25,000 people working in them,'' he said.

Finance union Amicus raised concerns about the plans at a meeting at the bank's Canada Square HQ last Wednesday (March 16).

The bank has already achieved half of its target of 4,500 job cuts in the UK by 2006 through offshoring.

HSBC saves $20,000 for every job it moves to one of its 10 service centres across Asia.

David Fleming, Amicus's national officer for the finance sector, added: ``2000 HSBC jobs have already been offshored this year and a further 1,000 are going abroad next year
"