Morgan Stanley eyeing regional US banks: Report

TOKYO: Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley is considering buying a regional bank in the United States to expand its retail banking business, a report said on Tuesday.

"Now that we're a bank holding company, deposits are important to us," Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack was quoted as telling Japan's Nikkei business daily in an interview, according to its English language website.

"We are looking for potential opportunities to buy a bank that has a presence in an important market in the United States."

Morgan Stanley, which lost 2.29 billion dollars in the quarter to November, announced in January a deal to merge its global wealth management business with that of troubled rival Citigroup.

Last month it announced plans to merge its securities operations in Japan with those of Japanese megabank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which owns a 21 percent stake in Morgan Stanley.