Morgan Stanley shares close higher on Friday, holding to pay $13 million in relation with customer over-billing

According to a January 13th statement by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Morgan Stanley is expected to pay $13 million in relation with civil charges, after the holding company billed a number of wealth management customers more than it should due to billing system errors. Morgan Stanley also failed to comply with custody rules, which ensure customers assets are kept safe. The bank neither admitted, nor denied these allegations.

Morgan Stanley shares closed higher on Friday, while also marking their third gain in the past five trading sessions. The stock went up 0.41% ($0.18) to $43.81, after climbing as high as $44.60, or a level not seen since August 11th 2008 ($46.58). In the week ended on January 15th the shares of the financial holding company lost 0.09% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the third drop in the past ten weeks. However, the stock has extended its advance to 3.69% so far during the current month, following a 2.15% increase in December. The latter has been a third consecutive monthly gain, but yet, the smallest one since May 2016. For the entire 2016, Morgan Stanley shares gained 32.82%.

According to the regulatory authority, errors in Morgan Stanleys billing system affected over 149 000 customers, while, as a result, the financial holding ended up in possession of over $16 million in excess fees during the period between 2002 and 2016.

The bank also violated custody rules, according to which an independent accountant conducts a “surprise” exam every year, in order to make certain customer assets are safeguarded. The SECs statement revealed that Morgan Stanley had not provided the independent accountant with a full or precise list of customer funds and had not preserved customer contracts for a period of two straight years.

“All affected clients have been reimbursed and the firm has enhanced its policies and procedures, including discontinuing the use of certain legacy systems”, Christine Jockle, spokesperson for the banks wealth management unit, said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Morgan Stanley stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $43.91
R2 – $44.01
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $44.11
R4 (Long Breakout) – $44.42
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $44.77
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $44.92

S1 – $43.71
S2 – $43.61
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $43.51
S4 (Short Breakout) – $43.21
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $42.85
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $42.70

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Morgan Stanley (MS) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $43.70
R1 – $44.71
R2 – $45.62
R3 – $46.63
R4 – $47.65

S1 – $42.79
S2 – $41.78
S3 – $40.87
S4 – $39.97