Morgan Stanley: Recover and Discover

Morgan Stanley boss Philip Purcell may have just saved his job. Not only that, he looks to have done so rather painlessly. Though the spin-off of Discover looks like a climb-down, it’s what the firm’s own investment bankers would advise the client as a no-brainer defence. Why? Because Purcell has probably intended to do this for some time now. The lack of synergies between the third-rate credit card issuer and the rest of Morgan Stanley has long been obvious. Purcell conceded as much to investo...