PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Peter O. Jamison, III, Deputy Attorney General

Phone: (302) 577-8940

Fax: (302) 577-6987

Date: September 6, 2005



Morgan Stanley DW to Pay $700,000 in Delaware Enforcement Action



(Wilmington, DE) -- Attorney General M. Jane Brady announced today that the Division of Securities in the Department of Justice has settled a state administrative action against Morgan Stanley DW, a brokerage firm, that requires the firm to make a monetary payment of $700,000.00, the largest part of which will be paid to a husband and wife to reimburse them for losses incurred in their brokerage accounts at Morgan Stanley.



The Division of Securities commenced an administrative action in December 2003 by filing a formal complaint against Morgan Stanley and two brokers, George Coughlin and Argie Economou who worked in a Morgan Stanley branch office in Burlington, Vermont. The complaint alleged that Morgan Stanley, through its broker, Mr. Coughlin, executed numerous unauthorized and unsuitable securities transactions in the brokerage accounts of a married couple living in Wilmington, Delaware. According to the complaint, Morgan Stanley executed over five hundred fifty unauthorized transactions and over seventy unsuitable transactions. The complaint also alleged that Morgan Stanley and Mr. Economou, who was Mr. Coughlin's immediate supervisor, failed to properly supervise Mr. Coughlin's trading activities in the couple's accounts, in violation of the securities laws of the State of Delaware. As part of the settlement, Morgan Stanley and the brokers named in the complaint neither admitted nor denied the allegations. 



Attorney General Brady said, "The $700,000.00 settlement is the largest settlement of a securities case by the Department of Justice involving a re-payment of money to victims in many years and makes clear our commitment to the protection of investors in Delaware." According to the Attorney General, "if you believe that you may have been the victim of an investment fraud or other investment-related misconduct in Delaware, you should contact the Division of Securities in the Department of Justice at 302-577-8424." 

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