Morgan Stanley Taps Independent Research

Morgan Stanley announced it has chosen eight independent research firms to supply stock analysis in compliance with a regulatory settlement.

Morgan Stanley selected Alpha Equity Research, Argus Research, Buckingham Research Group, Fulcrum Global Partners, IPOfinancial.com, Soleil Securities Group, Standard & Poor's, and Zacks Investment Research.

The selections were part of a settlement reached in April 2003 among large Wall Street firms and state and federal regulators after an investigation of alleged conflicts of interest between brokers' research activities and their investment banking businesses.

The company said it will spend $75 million on outside research.

The 10 companies that participated in the settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, NASD Inc., New York Stock Exchange, and the New York attorney general's office must make third-party research available to their clients along with in-house research by July 27.

Of the 10, Bear Stearns, Citigroup's Smith Barney, Goldman Sachs & Co., Lehman Bros., Merrill Lynch, UBS, J.P. Morgan, and now Morgan Stanley have announced their third-party research firms. Credit Suisse First Boston and Piper Jaffray have yet to do so.

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