Morgan Stanley announces 100% increase of its quarterly dividend from$0.35 to $0.70 per share

Morgan Stanley [MS] announced that it will double its quarterly common stock dividend to $0.70per share from the current $0.35 per share, beginning with the common dividend expected to be declared by the Firm’s Board of Directorsin the third quarter of 2021. In addition, the Firm announced a new increased repurchase authorization of outstanding common stock ofup to $12 billion through June 30, 2022.

James P. Gorman, Chairman and Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Morgan Stanley, said, “The Board of Directors has approved a 100 percent increase in our dividend and an increase ofour share repurchase program to $12 billion. Morgan Stanley has accumulated significant excess capital over the past several years andnow has one of the largest capital buffers in the industry. The action taken by the Board reflects a decision to reset our capital baseconsistent with the needs we have for our transformed business model. In particular, Wealth Management and Investment Management providestable and durable earnings that support a significantly higher payout ratio. Going forward we remain amply capitalized to drive furthergrowth.”

On June 24, 2021, the Board of Governorsof the Federal Reserve System released its CCAR 2021 results, as a result of which Morgan Stanley will be subject to a Stress CapitalBuffer (SCB) of 5.7 percent from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022. Together with other features of the regulatory capital framework,this SCB results in an aggregate U.S. Basel III Standardized Approach Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 13.2 percent. The Firm’sU.S. Basel III Standardized Approach CET1 ratio was 16.7 percent as of March 31, 2021.