Morgan Stanley’s Head of Prime Brokerage Quits Citing Health Issues

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) global head of prime brokerage business resigned from its role, citing health issues. According to Reuters, citing an internal bank memo sent to its employees, Edward Keller stepped down, and he will be replaced by Penny Novick and Kim Shaw and the new global co-heads of the prime brokerage.

The exact health issues details are unknown as of press time. Keller has been a veteran in the firm for a long time, after joining Morgan Stanley in 1994 and then taking the global prime brokerage business lead since 2009. According to the educational institute’s website, the executive studied at the Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

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“Ed has been as responsible as anyone for the growth of our prime brokerage business and by extension for the return of our equities franchise to prominence,” Alan Thomas, Gokul Laroia, and David Russell, Morgan Stanley’s three global co-heads of institutional equities, said in the internal memo.

With Novick and Shaw’s appointments, they become the first women to run the prime brokerage business at the firm. Furthermore, in a separate memo, Morgan Stanley clarified that Keller has plans to return to the bank once he recovers and takes a senior advisory role.

Recent Morgan Stanley Business Maneuvers

Previously, in 2020, Morgan Stanley closed a $13 billion acquisition of the New York-based discount broker-dealer E*TRADE Financial Corporation after reaching an agreement in February 2020

But Finance Magnates reported recently that the bank has been trading crypto business waters, as it has entered into negotiation to acquire stakes in Bithumb, the largest South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, after approaching Vidente, the owner of around a 10 percent stake in South Korea’s crypto company. However, there is no word on whether they’ve reached a deal or not.

Founded in 1935, US-listed Morgan Stanley is one of the top investment banks managing $3.3 trillion in assets.