30 August 2005 The inadequacies of its email management systems could result in investment bank Morgan Stanley being fined in excess of $10 million, according to reports.

Officials at the US Security and Exchange Commission have been investigating the business practices of the bank, and have become increasingly frustrated at their inability to get hold of vital emails pertaining to the investigation.

That frustration could land the bank with a fine of more than $10 million dollars.

Bank officials were warned about the size of the fine – which would be the largest ever levied against a Wall Street brokerage – at a meeting last week, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley was ordered to pay $1.45 billion in damages, because it persistently failed to produce vital emails relating to a court case.

In 2002 a number of Wall Street companies, including Morgan Stanley, were each fined $1.65 million for failing to retain documents as part of an earlier agreement. Following the “cease and desist” order that followed, the firms promised to correct their system problems.

Morgan Stanley has pleaded for leniency, saying the problems occurred under its former CEO, Philip Purcell. It believes the matter should be settled for less than $5 million.