Morgan Stanley shares collapse under new pressure

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2008

NEW YORK (AFP) — US investment bank Morgan Stanley was again under fire on Wall Street on Friday, making it a candidate for a recapitalization from the US government, analysts said.

Shares in the group, one of only two independent investment banks left on Wall Street, have lost 66 percent of their value in the last week.

The future of the bank had looked secure after Japanese peer Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) said it would buy nearly a quarter of the company for 9.0 billion dollars thereby injecting much-needed capital.

The deal received a greenlight from US federal authorities on Monday and could be concluded next Tuesday after a mandatory legal delay.

But the stock is under so much pressure that investors are speculating that MUFG might...