The International Financing Review recognized the Firm's equities and structured equities businesses with two awards for 2009:

• Americas Equity House of the Year
• EMEA Structured Equity House of the Year

In a piece called "The Comeback Kids," IFR made note of the Firm's strong rebound from the financial crisis and identified its equity capital markets unit as "a crucial part of that turnaround."

IFR was unequivocal in its praise, writing, "Morgan Stanley stood at the forefront of virtually every significant trend in the equity capital markets in 2009. Whether it was the re-opening of the IPO markets, the recapitalization of the financial institutions, or advisory work to the U.S. government, the bank was there."

Morgan Stanley played a crucial role in reviving the IPO marketplace through transactions such as Mead Johnson Nutrition in February, Rosetta Stone in April, and Verisk Analytics in October, IFR said.

The publication also had accolades for the Firm's convertible bond business, remarking that its EMEA Equity House "was at the forefront of issuance" once the market reopened after the crisis. Morgan Stanley "clocked up a market share of 15 percent from 18 deals priced - more than any other of its competitors," IFR editors wrote.

The Firm's performance in the convertibles market was all the more notable given that French corporations dominated issuance in 2009, bestowing a possible advantage to local banks, IFR added. The publication attributed Morgan Stanley's success to a superior strategy: "While competitors were finding little interest in talking about a convertible," it wrote, "at Morgan Stanley the bankers were already in the room before it was slipped into conversation."

Significant convertible-bond deals involved Swedish auto parts firm Autoliv, mining company Anglo American and the European real estate firm Unibail-Rodamco, as well as sovereign transactions for Hungary and Germany.

Morgan Stanley also received recognition for its involvement in IFR's EMEA Equity Issue of the Year: a €4.4bn ($6.4bn) offering by HeidelbergCement. The Firm was joint global coordinator on the transaction. "The €4.4bn solution that combined a rights issue rump and secondary sell-down by 60 banks was both elegant and ambitious," said the editors.