Morgan Stanley Fires 1,000 Mortgage Workers Affecting U.S. And UK Markets
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) announced today that it will scale back its residential mortgage operations in the U.S. in response to the continued deterioration of the mortgage markets. In addition, the Firm will discontinue its UK-based residential mortgage lending business, Advantage Home Loans. Approximately 1,000 employees in the U.S. and the UK will be affected by this restructuring.
Morgan Stanley will continue to service mortgage loans in the U.S. through its Saxon Mortgage Services, Inc. platform, based in Fort Worth, Texas. In addition, the Firm will still offer residential mortgages to its retail brokerage clients through Morgan Stanley Credit Corporation, preserving a successful partnership between the Institutional Securities business and Global Wealth Management.
Bank of America to buy Countrywide
Bank of America Corp. said Friday it has agreed to buy Countrywide Financial for $4 billion in stock, a deal that both rescues the country’s biggest mortgage lender and expands the financial services empire of the nation’s largest consumer bank.
The acquisition will make Charlotte-based Bank of America the nation’s biggest mortgage lender and loan servicer.
“Countrywide presents a rare opportunity for Bank of America to add what we believe is the best domestic mortgage platform at an attractive price and to affirm our position as the nation’s premier lender to consumers,” Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis said in a statement.