Morgan Stanley beat Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank to claim the celebrated "Best IT Department — Sellside" award at the Financial News annual awards ceremony for European IT Excellence on September 18, 2007 in London. It was the third consecutive year that the Firm has taken the top IT honor.

Morgan Stanley was the only bank to receive two awards, also claiming for the second year running the award "Best Back Office Project," for its efforts to automate variance swaps, a derivative for trading volatility. The Firm was also shortlisted in the "Best Algorithmic Trading Platform" category.

Now in its fifth year, the Financial News annual awards host a distinguished panel of judges represented by independent industry experts from market consultancies and research firms.

In an industry where IT is an integral component to the smooth operation of the financial markets, these awards aim to provide a forum in which the European financial services industry can gather to be honored by the Financial News and industry peers for excellence in their technology operations.