Morgan Stanley Weighing Sale Of Swiss Private Bank: Source

Morgan Stanley (MS.
N) is weighing the sale of its private bank in Switzerland which manages roughly 10 billion Swiss francs ($11.

28 billion) in assets, a source close to the matter told Reuters.

The U.
S.
bank is looking at several options, one of which is an outright sale, the person said on Wednesday.

International banks including Standard Chartered (STAN.

L) have been offloading Swiss operations for reasons including the need to raise funds or because private banking is no longer core to their operations.

Morgan Stanley has made changes to how it has organized its private bank in Asia, for which Switzerland was originally intended as a platform to expand, according to the source.

The news was first reported by Swiss finance portal finews.

ch on its website on Wednesday.
The Swiss business was not part of a deal last March in which Credit Suisse (CSGN.

VX) agreed to buy Morgan Stanley's wealth management arm in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with $13 billion in assets.

REUTERS