Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced today the hiring of two senior banking veterans to lead the Firm's newly created Retail Banking Group, as the Firm continues to build out its retail banking business and deposit base. Cece S. Sutton will become President of the Retail Banking Group and Jonathan W. Witter will become the Chief Operating Officer of the Group, reporting to Ms. Sutton.
Both executives join Morgan Stanley from Wachovia, where they held senior executive positions, Ms. Sutton as Executive Vice President and Head of Retail and Small Business Banking with responsibility for 33,000 employees across 3,300 locations, and Mr. Witter as Executive Vice President and Head of Distribution for the general bank. Ms. Sutton will join the Morgan Stanley Management Committee and report to Co-President James P. Gorman.
"We are pleased to have these two highly experienced retail banking executives joining Morgan Stanley to lead our retail banking initiatives," said Chairman and CEO John J. Mack. "As we look to grow our deposit base and expand this increasingly important business, we will leverage our existing retail banking capabilities, as well as our new bank holding company structure. We believe Cece and Jon are uniquely positioned to lead that effort - and help us realize the many opportunities we see, both through organic growth and potential acquisitions."
Mr. Gorman said, "Cece Sutton is a seasoned executive with 30 years of experience and an impressive track record of profitable growth in retail banking. She and Jon Witter are the ideal executives to lead our retail banking initiatives, as we look to grow bank deposits both by expanding services to our existing three million individual and small business accounts, as well as by exploring potential retail bank acquisitions."
Morgan Stanley has begun a series of new initiatives to build new bank deposits, and announced in late October that it had raised $3 billion in certificates of deposit (CDs) in just four weeks time. The Firm also is launching a campaign to raise client awareness about the banking and financial services available through the Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management Group's network of 8,500 financial offices in 500 branch offices, and is in the process of developing new products and services.
Ms. Sutton joined Wachovia in 1978 and held a succession of management positions across all facets of the retail banking business, including branch manager, sales manager, training director and area banking executive. She has served in her current position since 2003.
Mr. Witter joined Wachovia in 2004 as Head of Distribution for its general bank, with responsibilities for designing and leading an integrated network strategy including branches, ATMs, call centers and online banking. He previously served as an associate principal for McKinsey & Co., specializing in banking and insurance consulting.
Through its Global Wealth Management Group, Morgan Stanley currently offers a broad range of financial services, including banking and lending products and services. It reported a total of $36 billion in deposits as of the third quarter ending August 31, 2008.
Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 600 offices in 35 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.
Media Relations Contact: Jim Wiggins, 914.225.6161