That distinguishes it from Wells Fargo, whose clients had no idea that accounts were being opened in their name. On the other hand, did Morgan Stanley’s clients know that their brokers were competing – and being paid – to open these new loan accounts? That the reason they were being offered the product might have as much or more to do with the broker’s own financial wellbeing as with their own real needs? (Did they really need a new loan? Or the risk associated with taking out a loan against a securities portfolio when the market is near what seems likely to be its peak?) I suspect not.
Thomas Curry, the US comptroller of the currency, has warned other banks to review their own cross-selling practices and has told Congress that his own staff will be evaluating what the largest banks are up to in this respect. It’s about time. Hopefully, he’ll report back with the answers. At least, when he does, we’ll all understand what he’s talking about. At the end of the day, it’s really not much different than the high-pressure telephone sales guy who simply will not hang up or go away. Only because it’s your banker who’s putting you on the spot, you’re a particularly vulnerable kind of captive audience who can’t just hang up.