Morgan Stanley’s Competing visions

Last June, Morgan Stanley’s board received two presentations on the company’s future. One was delivered by Vikram Pandit, the then-president of the institutional securities arm. It was dubbed the «standalone» approach. Pandit argued that Morgan Stanley didn’t need to partner with a big bank to retain its powerhouse status on Wall Street. The second presentation came from Stephen Crawford, the former financial institutions banker who rose to become chief financial officer. Crawford took the oppos...