Morgan Stanley Targets $1B In Cost Savings

Morgan Stanley CFO Ruth Porat has outlined his cost cutting plans.

Morgan Stanley (MS) CFO Ruth Porat has outlined his cost cutting plans, The Wall Street Journal reports. The lender is targeting nearly $500 million in cost savings beginning in 2012 and expects to save $1 billion over the next three years. The firm, which may decrease its brokerage headcount within Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, will also monitor a variety of expenses, including Blackberry usage of its employees. In March 2011, the bank fired nearly 300 trainees and lower-producing brokers and reported 17,800 total advisers.

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