September 13, 2016 (Shareholders Foundation) - An investigation on behalf of current or former participants in the Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Employee 401(k) Plan concerning potential Breaches of Fiduciary Duty by the plan administrator was announced.

According to the investigation by a law firm under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) current or former participants in the Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Employee 401(k) Plan may be eligible to file an ERISA complaint for putting stock options at risk if they can prove that the plan administrator violated its fiduciary duty to them. The investigation focuses on recent reports that Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) mismanaged its employees 401(k) Plan and engaged in illegal self-dealing. According to the investigation the Morgan Stanley 401(k) Plan is loaded with high-expense low-return investment options, many of which are proprietary Morgan Stanley mutual funds and as a result, Morgan Stanley may have profited from the potential excessive fees it charged its own employees.

Morgan Stanley reported that its annual total Revenue declined from over $37.95 billion in 2014 to over $37.89 billion and that its Net Income increased from over $3.48 billion in 2014 to over $6.14 billion in 2015.

On September 13, 2016, NYSE:MS shares closed at $31.46 per share.