Morgan Stanley revises earnings, boosts compensation

NEW YORK - 28 February 2018: The new U.S. tax law has taken a bigger bite out of Morgan Stanley’s 2017 earnings than it initially expected and led its board to boost top executives’ deferred compensation from prior years, the Wall Street bank said on Tuesday.

After further analysis of the law’s particulars, Morgan Stanley boosted its provision for income taxes by $43 million, the bank said in its annual 10-K securities filing. The adjustment reduced earnings per share from continuing operations by 3 cents per share in the fourth quarter and 2 cents per share for the full year.

The sweeping tax code changes enacted in late December cuts the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, meaning that U.S.-based corporations with the highest rates like banks would benefit in the longer term.

Morgan Stanley expects its overall tax rate from continuing operations this year to be 22 to 25 percent, depending on where its earnings come from globally.

The bank’s board also decided to change the amount of long-term stock awards executives were awarded in prior years because of the way tax code changes affected the performance targets they had to hit.

Although the new law is expected to boost future corporate earnings, big Wall Street banks took large one-time earnings hits last year related to deferred tax assets and earnings stored overseas.