Regulator Says Morgan Stanley Withheld E-Mail in Cases

From the New York Times:

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
Published: December 20, 2006

"The NASD, the nation’s largest self-regulatory organization for the securities industry, accused Morgan Stanley yesterday of routinely failing to provide e-mail messages to aggrieved customers who had filed arbitration cases against the firm over three and a half years and with making false claims that millions of e-mail messages in its possession had been lost in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.

The regulator also contended in its complaint against Morgan Stanley that the firm regularly destroyed millions of e-mail messages by overwriting its backup tapes and by allowing employees to delete messages. Securities and Exchange Commission rules require that firms keep all e-mails and business communications for three years. "

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