Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Corporate Political Activities Policy Statement

Initially Adopted December 2004
Amended and Restated as of January 28, 2026

The Morgan Stanley Corporate Political Activities Policy Statement (“Policy”), which is approved by the Governance and Sustainability Committee of the Morgan Stanley Board of Directors (the “Board”), sets forth basic principles concerning Morgan Stanley’s U.S. political contributions, political action committee, lobbying activities and trade association participation.  

Corporate Political Contributions

Morgan Stanley does not make corporate contributions in the U.S. at the federal, state or local level to candidates, political party committees, ballot committees or political action committees that contribute to the foregoing, even when permitted to do so by applicable law. Further, Morgan Stanley does not use corporate resources to make direct independent expenditures or electioneering communications, as defined by U.S. federal election law. Morgan Stanley may, from time to time, make contributions to organizations that may make independent expenditures and/or electioneering communications, such as Super PACs and certain social welfare organizations organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, in alignment with the interests of the financial services industry and broader business community.

Morgan Stanley Political Action Committee

Federal election law allows corporations to establish political action committees, which may make contributions to federal candidates, state candidates (as permitted by law) and other committees. In the U.S., Morgan Stanley sponsors the Morgan Stanley Political Action Committee (the “MSPAC”), a federal political action committee registered with the Federal Election Commission. Morgan Stanley does not sponsor any state or local political action committees. The MSPAC is funded solely through voluntary employee contributions. As permitted to do so by applicable law, Morgan Stanley supports the modest cost of administering the MSPAC; however, corporate funds are never contributed to the MSPAC. 

The MSPAC contributes on a bi-partisan basis to U.S. federal candidates and political committees and does not make contributions in connection with U.S. presidential elections or U.S. state or local elections. Decisions regarding the MSPAC’s contributions are made by the Government Relations Department, under the oversight of the MSPAC’s board of directors. The MSPAC’s board of directors is comprised of employees who broadly represent various constituencies within Morgan Stanley. Contribution decisions are not made to reflect the personal political views or interests of senior management. Contribution criteria considered when the MSPAC makes contribution decisions include:  

  • the candidates’ views on issues relevant to Morgan Stanley, its shareholders, clients and employees;
  • the candidate’s leadership positions;
  • the jurisdiction of the Congressional committees on which the candidate serves; and
  • the candidate’s representation of a jurisdiction where Morgan Stanley has a significant employee presence.

Lobbying

As a global financial institution, Morgan Stanley is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and an effective participant in the legislative and regulatory process. Morgan Stanley’s businesses and our ability to generate returns for our shareholders are subject to extensive laws and regulations at the international, federal, state and local levels, and changes to such laws can significantly affect how we operate. Accordingly, we believe it is important to understand and engage in the regulatory and political environments in which we have a presence.

Morgan Stanley participates in the public policy arena on a wide range of issues that are important to Morgan Stanley shareholders, clients and employees, including issues relating to the financial regulatory environment worldwide, the growth and stability of the global economy and healthy capital markets. The Government Relations Department coordinates Morgan Stanley’s public policy priorities. The Head of Government Relations reports to Morgan Stanley’s Chief Legal Officer and Chief Administrative Officer, who is a member of Morgan Stanley’s Operating Committee and reports to our Chief Executive Officer. The Government Relations Department, in coordination with the Legal and Compliance Division and senior management, as appropriate, manages the identification of Morgan Stanley’s legislative and regulatory priorities and its participation in the public policy arena, including (i) Morgan Stanley’s dialogue with U.S. federal and state government officials and government officials in the many jurisdictions in which Morgan Stanley operates and (ii) expenditures related to such participation.

Morgan Stanley discloses publicly all U.S. federal lobbying costs and the issues to which they relate pursuant to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 as amended by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (“Lobbying Disclosure Act”), which requires that we file reports on a quarterly basis. These reports are publicly available at https://lda.senate.gov/system/public/ and at the links provided in our Corporate Political Contributions Disclosure Statement.

Morgan Stanley does not generally engage in grassroots lobbying, but if it did engage in grassroots lobbying in a given year, any related expenditures would be disclosed in our Corporate Political Contributions Disclosure Statement.

Trade Associations

As part of its engagement in the public policy process, Morgan Stanley participates in a number of trade associations and industry groups representing the interests of both the financial services industry and our business segments as well as the broader business community. The principal U.S. trade associations we belong to are provided in our Corporate Political Contributions Disclosure Statement.

Morgan Stanley may not always support every position taken by these organizations or their other members through lobbying or otherwise; however, Morgan Stanley believes its participation in these organizations is important to the advancement of its employees’ professional development and networking and to promoting public policy objectives of importance to Morgan Stanley shareholders, clients and employees.

As necessary, and in instances where we disagree with positions taken by trade associations and social welfare organizations organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, to which we make expenditures, Morgan Stanley expresses its independent views on issues directly with the organization or in other ways to seek alignment in a constructive manner on policy issues significant to Morgan Stanley shareholders, clients and employees. On at least an annual basis, we review our continued membership in these organizations.  Morgan Stanley does not generally participate in any tax-exempt organization in the U.S. that is primarily organized to write, endorse or promote model legislation.

We inform our principal U.S. trade associations of our Policy restricting corporate U.S. political contributions and instruct them to use payments made by Morgan Stanley for election-related activity that are consistent with this Policy.

Morgan Stanley’s principal U.S. trade association memberships as well as the expenditures relating to such memberships are reviewed annually with the Government Relations Department and the Governance and Sustainability Committee of the Board.

Dues attributable to lobbying by U.S. trade associations are included in the quarterly reports we file pursuant to the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which are available at https://lda.senate.gov/system/public/, and are provided in our Corporate Political Contributions Disclosure Statement.

Compliance

Morgan Stanley is committed to complying with all applicable laws relating to political contributions and lobbying activities. The activities described in this Policy are conducted in a transparent manner and consistent with legal and regulatory requirements.

The Morgan Stanley Code of Conduct and Policy on U.S. Political Contributions and Activities govern the political activities of Morgan Stanley, our employees and the MSPAC. These policies are designed to help Morgan Stanley and our employees act in compliance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements as well as this Policy. The Morgan Stanley Code of Conduct, which the Board annually reviews and approves and which all employees acknowledge annually, prohibits the use of any Morgan Stanley resource for any political event or political contribution without prior approval of the Legal and Compliance Division and the Government Relations Department.

BOARD OVERSIGHT

As set forth in its charter, the Governance and Sustainability Committee of the Board, which is comprised solely of independent members of the Board oversees, and receives reports at least annually on Morgan Stanley’s political activities including: (i) Morgan Stanley’s compliance with this Policy regarding U.S. corporate political contributions, (ii) political contribution activities of the MSPAC, (iii) Morgan Stanley’s significant lobbying priorities, and expenditures attributable to lobbying in the U.S. and (iv) Morgan Stanley’s membership in, and expenditures relating to, its principal U.S. trade associations.

Public Reporting and Disclosure

Morgan Stanley publishes an annual Corporate Political Contributions Disclosure Statement that affirms compliance with the Policy, including corporate political contributions.

Morgan Stanley and the MSPAC comply with all legally required disclosure requirements, including the Federal Election Campaign Act, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-37, Investment Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-5, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Rule 23.451, and Security-Based Swap Dealer Rule 15Fh-6.

The MSPAC’s political contributions are reported to the Federal Election Commission and are publicly available at www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00337626/.

All contributions required to be disclosed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act are reported to the U.S. Congress and are publicly available at https://lda.senate.gov/system/public/. We also disclose state and local lobbying expenditures where required by applicable law.

In addition, our Corporate Political Contributions Disclosure Statement includes

  • Morgan Stanley average lobbying expenditures for the past three years;
  • Links to Morgan Stanley’s quarterly lobbying reports;
  • Morgan Stanley’s approximate aggregate state lobbying expenditures; and
  • The percentage of Morgan Stanley’s membership attributable to lobbying for each of our principal U.S. trade associations.

 

 

Morgan Stanley Corporate Political Activities Annual Disclosure Statement

Year Ended December 31, 2025

The following disclosures for the year ended December 31, 2025 (“2025”) are provided in compliance with Morgan Stanley’s Corporate Political Activities Policy Statement (“Policy Statement”).  

CORPORATE POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Morgan Stanley did not make any corporate contributions in the U.S. at the federal, state or local level to candidates, political party committees, ballot committees or political action committees even when permitted to do so by applicable law (“Corporate Contributions”) in 2025.  

LOBBYING

Morgan Stanley did not engage in grassroots lobbying in 2025.

Morgan Stanley disclosed publicly all U.S. federal lobbying costs and the issues to which they relate pursuant to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 as amended by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (“Lobbying Disclosure Act”) in 2025. These reports are publicly available at https://lda.senate.gov/system/public/ by typing “Morgan Stanley” in the “Registrant” field and are available at the links below.

Morgan Stanley’s average lobbying expenditures for the years ended December 31, 2023, December 31, 2024, and December 31, 2025 was $4.1 million. Morgan Stanley’s approximate aggregate state lobbying expenditures for the year ended December 31, 2025 was $4.5 million.

TRADE ASSOCIATIONS

The principal U.S. trade associations Morgan Stanley belonged to in 2025 were informed of our corporate policy prohibiting Corporate Contributions and instructed to use payments made by Morgan Stanley consistent with the Policy Statement.

Based on the information reported to us by these organizations, the aggregate dues attributable to lobbying by U.S. trade associations in 2025 of $4.5 million were included in the quarterly reports we filed pursuant to the Lobbying Disclosure Act, which are publicly available at https://lda.senate.gov/system/public/.

Morgan Stanley Principal U.S. Trade Associations and Percentage of Dues Spent on Lobbying
Year Ended December 31, 2025

Organization NameLobbying Percentage

American Bankers Association5.5%

Business Roundtable45.0%

Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America40.0%

Futures Industry Association5.0%

Institute of International Finance0.0%

International Swaps and Derivatives Association1.3%

Investment Company Institute0.0%

Managed Funds Association20.0%

Partnership for New York City1.0%

Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association16.5%

Structured Finance Association17.0%

The Bank Policy Institute10.0%

The Financial Services Forum30.0%