Independent profile — not affiliated with Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a New York-based financial services holding company whose Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC and E*TRADE units serve retail wealth-management and brokerage clients. This page gives the company's own Client Relations route, FINRA, SEC and CFPB complaint routes, and a dated record of SEC, FINRA and Massachusetts orders, a settled 2022 data-security class action, and pending cash-sweep suits. BBB, Trustpilot and CFPB counts are shown as displayed on October 18, 2026.
Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints
USAComplaints currently maintains 6 historical complaints about Morgan Stanley, published between 2000 and 2011. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.
- Retirement account money moved without my permission
- Alternative Investment Partners redemption held back for a year
- Account closing fees and annual maintenance fee at brokerage
- Refused access to stock purchase plan documents and share transfer
- $1194 termination fee when closing Choice account
- Unauthorized withdrawal of $16,800 from my Dean Witter account
Complaint Themes
Independent Sources
Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.
Contacts
- Official website: https://www.morganstanley.com/
- Wealth Management Client Relations: (866) 227-2256
- E*TRADE Client Relations: (800) 387-2331 27 complaints mention this number
- Corporate switchboard (10-K cover): (212) 761-4000
- Client Relations page: https://www.morganstanley.com/wealth-general/client-relations-contact
Locations
| Type | Address |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 1585 Broadway New York NY 10036 |
| Mailing address | PO Box 95002 South Jordan UT 84095 |
Morgan Stanley: how to escalate a problem or complain (checked October 18, 2026)
People who search for Morgan Stanley complaints are usually (a) wealth-management or brokerage clients with a problem the advisor has not fixed, (b) E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley account holders, (c) holders of stock-plan accounts, or (d) people checking the company's regulatory record. The routes below come from Morgan Stanley's own page and from agency pages opened on October 18, 2026; your account agreements and statements control over any summary here.
Escalation path. Morgan Stanley's Client Relations page says: 'At Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, your primary contact with our Firm is your Financial Advisor or service team. If concerns arise, you may also feel confident in raising such issues to the Branch Manager.' It adds that 'Should you feel the need to escalate your concerns further, you may contact our Client Relations Department by telephone, mail or email' and asks for 'account information, dates, names, events, and desired outcome'. The page lists Morgan Stanley (866) 227-2256 and E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley (800) 387-2331 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET, closed on US holidays), and the mailing address Morgan Stanley Client Relations, PO Box 95002, South Jordan, UT 84095. The page also says: 'All account and/or client specific forms and requests must be mailed to the individual branch or to E*TRADE for completion', so the PO Box address is for Client Relations correspondence rather than for account forms. Put the complaint in writing and keep dated copies.
Outside the company. FINRA's current complaint page says: 'Before you file a complaint with FINRA, contact your firm.' An older FINRA page still online says that if you are 'still not satisfied with the firm's response, you can file a complaint with FINRA' and describes arbitration and mediation as the two non-judicial proceedings for resolving disputes. The SEC's tips, complaints and referrals system lists 'Theft or misappropriation of funds or securities' among reportable matters. The CFPB lists checking and savings accounts, mortgages and money transfers among the products it takes complaints about; its page does not mention brokerage or securities complaints. Your account agreement may require arbitration of disputes with the firm; read it before choosing a route.
Look up the people and firm. FINRA's BrokerCheck (brokercheck.finra.org) shows the registration and disclosure history of firms and individual brokers; FINRA lists Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC under CRD number 149777.
Morgan Stanley regulatory actions: SEC, FINRA and state orders
These are the regulatory matters about Morgan Stanley entities that were verified from agency or regulator documents opened on October 18, 2026. Each describes what the agency says; none is a finding about any individual client's account. Most are firm-wide supervision, record-keeping, data-security or institutional-trading matters rather than disputes over a single retail account.
SEC, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, December 9, 2024 (supervision of advisors). The SEC's press release 2024-193 says MSSB agreed to pay a $15 million civil penalty, consented 'Without admitting or denying the SEC's findings', was censured and ordered to cease and desist, and must retain a compliance consultant. The SEC order found that MSSB failed to reasonably supervise four former financial advisors who stole funds from advisory clients and brokerage customers, and lacked policies reasonably designed to prevent and detect theft through unauthorized third-party disbursements, with hundreds of unauthorized ACH transfers from May 2015 to July 2022. FINRA's 2026 notice SD-2459, summarizing the order, says MSSB 'entered into settlement agreements with the victimized clients and customers' and that until at least December 2022 it had no procedure screening externally initiated ACH instructions for a beneficiary name matching the assigned advisor.
SEC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and a former syndicate head, January 12, 2024 (block trades). SEC press release 2024-6 reports about $138 million in disgorgement, about $28 million in prejudgment interest and an $83 million civil penalty against Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, which was censured; it says that from at least June 2018 through August 2021 a former head of the equity syndicate desk and a subordinate disclosed confidential information about impending block trades to select investors and that the firm failed to enforce information barriers. The SEC's order (34-99336) says Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC 'has entered into a written non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York ... that acknowledges responsibility for conduct relating to the findings in the Order' and 'acknowledged facts sufficient to constitute violations of Section 10(b)'; this order does not contain the 'without admitting or denying' wording of the SEC orders above. The press release says the firm 'agrees to pay more than $249 million' and that the disgorgement and prejudgment interest would be deemed partially satisfied by forfeiture and restitution of $136,531,223 under the parallel criminal resolution. This matter concerns institutional block trading, not retail accounts.
SEC, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, September 20, 2022 (customer data). SEC press release 2022-168 reports a $35 million penalty; MSSB consented 'Without admitting or denying its findings'. The SEC order found that from 2015 MSSB failed to properly dispose of devices holding customers' personal information, that 42 servers were found missing in a reconciliation, and that the failures affected about 15 million customers over five years, violating the Safeguards and Disposal Rules of Regulation S-P.
FINRA and a state regulator, 2024. FINRA's news release of February 15, 2024 reports a $1.6 million fine of MSSB for municipal securities close-out and supervision failures; the firm consented 'without admitting or denying the charges'. FINRA's notice SD-2459 also describes an August 13, 2024 AWC (No. 2021069319401) with a $400,000 fine over trade confirmations that did not accurately disclose mark-ups and mark-downs on about 19,000 municipal and corporate debt transactions, and a consent order dated September 5, 2024 with the Massachusetts Securities Division (No. E-2023-0034) with a $2,000,000 administrative fee covering, among other findings, supervision of an insider's trading and record-keeping of off-channel communications.
FINRA, 2026 (continued membership). Because the December 2024 SEC order made MSSB subject to statutory disqualification (SD-2459 says MSSB had been subject to two prior Rule 19h-1 notices, including SD-2344 of January 29, 2024), FINRA's notice SD-2459 (published file dated February 2026) says FINRA approved MSSB's request to continue its FINRA membership subject to a plan of heightened supervision that remains in effect for 'a maximum of two calendar years' from the SEC's letter of acknowledgement. The notice also mentions a FINRA letter of January 29, 2026 relating to certain failures of E*TRADE Securities, LLC; the notice does not describe its substance.
SEC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, September 27, 2022 (off-channel communications). SEC press release 2022-174 lists 'Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC together with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC' among the firms agreeing to pay penalties of $125 million each, and says the firms 'admitted the facts set forth in their respective SEC orders' and acknowledged that their conduct violated recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws. It describes employees communicating about business matters on personal devices through text-messaging applications from January 2018 through September 2021. FINRA's notice SD-2459 refers to a statutory disqualification arising from this September 27, 2022 SEC order (FINRA notice SD-2344, January 29, 2024).
Multistate attorneys general, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, November 16, 2023 (data security). The New Jersey Attorney General's release of that date describes an overall $6.5 million multistate settlement, under an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC. Attorneys General in New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, New York and Vermont investigated two data security incidents that the release says compromised personal information of more than 3.37 million individuals nationwide (755,592 in New Jersey), 'Allegedly precipitated by Morgan Stanley's hiring of outside vendors that improperly decommissioned thousands of electronic devices in 2016 and 2019'. New Jersey was to receive approximately $1.27 million, and the settlement requires steps to strengthen data security and disposal procedures. The release does not state whether the firm admitted wrongdoing.
Earlier matters described by FINRA. FINRA's notice SD-2459 also describes a June 29, 2018 SEC order in which MSSB was censured and ordered to pay a civil monetary penalty of $3.6 million after a financial advisor misappropriated over $5 million from client accounts between December 2015 and November 2016, and a June 2015 FINRA AWC (No. 2011025479301) in which the firm was censured and fined $650,000 after three registered representatives converted $494,400 from thirteen customers. These are FINRA's summaries; the underlying orders were not opened for this page.
A 2020 action by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency against Morgan Stanley's national banks appeared in search results, but the OCC pages could not be opened on October 18, 2026, so it is not described here. No CFPB enforcement action was identified in the sources checked on October 18, 2026. Other regulatory matters may exist; check BrokerCheck and the agencies' own enforcement pages.
Morgan Stanley: who operates the accounts
Morgan Stanley's FY2025 Form 10-K lists a Delaware registrant with principal executive offices at 1585 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, telephone (212) 761-4000. It names Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC ('MS&Co.') and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC ('MSSB') as registered broker-dealers with the SEC and members of FINRA, and its litigation note also names E*TRADE Securities LLC; the 10-K refers to Morgan Stanley's acquisition of E*TRADE Financial Corporation in 2020. Which entity holds a particular account is shown on the account statements and agreement.
This page covers Morgan Stanley as a retail-facing financial firm. It is separate from other companies that use the words 'Morgan Stanley' in their names (for example, the children's hospital that BBB lists with a similar name), and from look-alike senders. Archive complaints on this site from 2007 about 'Harborside Financial Services' checks that use the Morgan Stanley name describe a third party and are not linked here.
Names in the archive: Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Morgan Stanley DW (earlier names appearing in complaints), Smith Barney, and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (the MSSB name BBB lists as an alternate). Whether a 2009 or later complaint concerns MSSB, MS&Co. or E*TRADE is usually not stated by the complainant.
Morgan Stanley complaint record: BBB, Trustpilot, CFPB and this site
Third-party snapshots (as displayed on October 18, 2026; they measure different things and are not added together). BBB's headquarters profile for Morgan Stanley (1585 Broadway) shows 'NOT BBB Accredited', rating D-, with the stated reason 'Failure to respond to 40 complaint(s) filed against business'; the complaints tab shows 84 total complaints in the last 3 years and 29 filed in the last 12 months; the reviews tab shows 1.25 out of 5 stars, average of 16 customer reviews. BBB's raw page data gives a business start of 1935-01-01 and a file-opened date of 1999-11-18. Trustpilot's page for morganstanley.com shows 133 reviews and a score of 1.4, with a profile claimed in November 2019; Trustpilot says it does not fact-check reviews. The CFPB Consumer Complaint Database lists 1,280 complaints under 'MORGAN STANLEY & CO. LLC' (first received January 3, 2012, latest October 7, 2026; 478 since October 18, 2025). For the last 12 months the database shows checking or savings account 447, money transfer or virtual currency 14, mortgage 11, personal or similar loan 5 and credit reporting 1; across all years company responses are 'Closed with explanation' 1,180, 'Closed with monetary relief' 44, 'Closed with non-monetary relief' 26 and 'Closed without relief' 12, with 23 marked untimely. Across all years the product categories under this company name are mostly checking or savings account (856) and mortgage (311); the CFPB's complaint page lists bank accounts, mortgages and money transfers among the products it takes complaints about and does not mention brokerage or securities, so these counts describe banking and mortgage products rather than brokerage disputes. CFPB does not verify the facts in complaints.
Complaints on this site. We link 6 approved archive complaints from 2000 to 2012 whose subject is Morgan Stanley or its Dean Witter, DW or Smith Barney brands. They describe a disputed $16,800 withdrawal (2000), a $1,194 account termination fee (2005), fees after a change in account terms (2010), a $100,000 alternative-investment placement with little return (2011), a missing retirement account transfer (2011), service and fee complaints (2012) and a stock-plan share transfer dispute (2009). Allegations are the writers' own, were not verified by us, and are far older than the regulatory matters above. Themes below are keyword counts across these 7 posts.
Morgan Stanley court record
Data-security class action (settled). In re Morgan Stanley Data Security Litigation (S.D.N.Y. 1:20-cv-05914, filed July 29, 2020) is a consumer class action about data security. The docket entries opened do not describe the claims. On August 5, 2022 the court entered a final approval order and judgment approving the class settlement; the attorney-fee order states that the settlement 'has created a fund of $60,000,000 in cash' paid into escrow. An appeal by a non-party class member (Second Circuit No. 22-2670) was dismissed per a mandate docketed December 27, 2022.
Cash-sweep class actions (pending). Morgan Stanley's FY2025 10-K says that, beginning in February 2024, MSSB and E*TRADE Securities LLC, among others, were named in putative class actions in the District of New Jersey and the Southern District of New York on behalf of brokerage, advisory and retirement account holders, alleging that they 'failed to pay a reasonable rate of interest on its cash sweep products'. The SDNY cases are consolidated as Estate of Sherlip, et al. v. Morgan Stanley, et al. (amended complaint filed August 15, 2025; motion to dismiss filed September 12, 2025), and the New Jersey cases as In re E*TRADE Cash Sweep Litigation, No. 2:24-cv-00603, in which, according to the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (filed August 4, 2026), a consolidated complaint was filed on July 16, 2026. The 10-Q repeats that the firm 'is also responding to requests from state securities regulators regarding brokerage account cash balances swept to the affiliate bank deposit program'. These are allegations; no ruling on the merits is reported in the 10-K or the 10-Q.
Other matters. The 10-K's legal note also lists institutional antitrust and other commercial cases (interest rate swaps, variable rate demand obligations, gilts, a mortgage-securities suit by IKB International in which judgment was entered in the firm's favor and the plaintiff has appealed) that do not involve retail accounts, and a Dutch tax matter resolved with penalty orders of EUR 101 million on two Morgan Stanley subsidiaries on November 27, 2025. They are not summarized further here.
Is Morgan Stanley Legitimate?
Morgan Stanley is an identifiable, SEC-registered public company: its FY2025 Form 10-K names the registrant, its Delaware incorporation and its 1585 Broadway headquarters, and describes MS&Co. and MSSB as registered broker-dealers and FINRA members. FINRA approved MSSB's continued membership in 2026 subject to a plan of heightened supervision. The record on this page also includes SEC orders of $15 million (2024), $35 million (2022) and, for MS&Co., more than $249 million in disgorgement, interest and penalty, partly offset by amounts paid under a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office (2024); a settled 2022 data-security class action; pending cash-sweep suits; and the BBB, Trustpilot and CFPB snapshots above (BBB shows a D- rating with 'Failure to respond to 40 complaint(s)'). This page does not rate the company; read the dated orders and the company's own account documents and decide what fits your situation.
Court & Public Records
| Case | Authority | Dates | Type | Outcome | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In re Morgan Stanley Data Security Litigation (consumer data-security class action) Docket 1:20-cv-05914 | U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. | Settled | Settled The docket shows a final approval order and judgment approving the class action settlement entered August 5, 2022 (doc. 156), and an order of the same date awarding fees and expenses that states the settlement agreement 'has created a fund of $60,000,000 in cash' paid into escrow. A non-party class member appealed (Second Circuit No. 22-2670); the docket records the mandate dismissing that appeal on December 27, 2022. The docket entries opened do not state whether Morgan Stanley admitted liability. | Source | |
| In re E*TRADE Cash Sweep Litigation (putative class action over interest paid on cash sweep products) Docket 2:24-cv-00603 | U.S. District Court, D.N.J. | — | Filed | Filed — no final outcome recorded Morgan Stanley's FY2025 Form 10-K says that, beginning in February 2024, MSSB and E*TRADE Securities LLC, among others, were named in putative class actions in the District of New Jersey and the Southern District of New York alleging that they failed to pay a reasonable rate of interest on cash sweep products, and that the New Jersey matters were consolidated into this action. The Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (filed August 4, 2026) says: 'A consolidated complaint was filed on July 16, 2026.' The plaintiffs seek class certification, unspecified compensatory damages, equitable and injunctive relief and treble damages. These are allegations; neither filing reports a ruling. The docket itself was not opened for this page. | Source |
| Estate of Sherlip, et al. v. Morgan Stanley, et al. (putative class action over cash sweep program) | U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. | — | Filed | Filed — no final outcome recorded According to the FY2025 Form 10-K, the SDNY cash sweep matters, which focus solely on MSSB's cash sweep program, were consolidated in this action; an amended class action complaint was filed on August 15, 2025 and MSSB moved to dismiss on September 12, 2025. The 10-K reports no ruling, and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 still reports only the August 15, 2025 amended complaint and the September 12, 2025 motion to dismiss, with no ruling. The docket itself was not opened for this page. | Source |
Company Relationships
- Affiliated with: Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
- Affiliated with: Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
- Affiliated with: E*TRADE Securities LLC
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I file a complaint with Morgan Stanley?
Morgan Stanley's Client Relations page says to start with your Financial Advisor or service team and the Branch Manager, then escalate to Client Relations by telephone, mail or email: Morgan Stanley (866) 227-2256, E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley (800) 387-2331 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET), or Morgan Stanley Client Relations, PO Box 95002, South Jordan, UT 84095. It asks for account information, dates, names, events and the outcome you want.
Can I complain to FINRA or the SEC about Morgan Stanley?
FINRA's current complaint page says to contact your firm before filing a complaint with FINRA; an older FINRA page still online says that if you are still not satisfied with the firm's response you can file a complaint with FINRA, and that disputes are resolved through arbitration and mediation. The SEC's tips, complaints and referrals page lists theft or misappropriation of funds or securities among reportable matters. The CFPB lists bank accounts, mortgages and money transfers among the products it handles and does not mention brokerage complaints.
What did the SEC's December 2024 order against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney say?
The SEC reported a $15 million civil penalty against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, imposed with the firm consenting without admitting or denying the findings. The order found failures to supervise four advisors who stole client funds and policy gaps around third-party disbursements, including hundreds of unauthorized ACH transfers from May 2015 to July 2022.
How much did Morgan Stanley pay in the 2024 block-trading case?
SEC press release 2024-6 reports about $138 million in disgorgement, about $28 million in prejudgment interest and an $83 million civil penalty against Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, with the disgorgement and interest deemed partially satisfied by $136,531,223 in forfeiture and restitution paid under the firm's non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, which the SEC order says acknowledges responsibility for conduct relating to its findings. The release says the firm agrees to pay more than $249 million. The matter concerned confidential information about institutional block trades.
Was there a class-action settlement over Morgan Stanley's data devices?
The S.D.N.Y. docket for In re Morgan Stanley Data Security Litigation (1:20-cv-05914) shows a final approval order and judgment entered August 5, 2022, and an order stating the settlement created a $60,000,000 cash fund. A non-party class member's appeal (Second Circuit No. 22-2670) was dismissed per a mandate docketed December 27, 2022.
Are there lawsuits about cash sweep interest at Morgan Stanley and E*TRADE?
Morgan Stanley's FY2025 Form 10-K reports putative class actions, beginning in February 2024, alleging that MSSB and E*TRADE Securities failed to pay a reasonable rate of interest on cash sweep products. The SDNY cases are consolidated as Estate of Sherlip v. Morgan Stanley and the New Jersey cases as In re E*TRADE Cash Sweep Litigation (2:24-cv-00603). The 10-K and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 report no ruling on the merits; the 10-Q says a consolidated complaint was filed in the New Jersey action on July 16, 2026. These are allegations.
What do BBB, Trustpilot and the CFPB show for Morgan Stanley?
As displayed on October 18, 2026: BBB's headquarters profile shows a D- rating, not accredited, 84 complaints in the last 3 years and 1.25 out of 5 from 16 reviews; Trustpilot shows 1.4 from 133 reviews; the CFPB database lists 1,280 complaints under 'MORGAN STANLEY & CO. LLC', 478 of them since October 18, 2025. These come from different systems and are not combined.
How can I check a Morgan Stanley advisor or the firm's record?
FINRA's BrokerCheck shows registration and disclosure history for firms and individual brokers; FINRA lists Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC as CRD number 149777. The regulatory orders summarized on this page are also available from the SEC and FINRA pages cited in each section.