In equity capital markets the old US investment banks are to the fore and often teamed together on large international deals, including a resurgent Goldman Sachs and an increasingly sure-footed Bank of America Merrill Lynch. However, they are narrowly led by Morgan Stanley. Raj Dhanda, head of global capital markets, says: "A number of the equity deals that emerged in the aftermath of the financial crisis were transformative. They helped rebuild confidence among investors, the private sector and public officials. We led many of these deals due to our global capital markets expertise, as well as the strength of our institutional and retail distribution."
The firm’s traditional ECM strengths lie in IPOs and equity-linked and both capabilities were much in demand by issuers in the developed markets and the growth markets of Asia and Latin America.
Morgan Stanley served as global coordinator and sole stabilization agent on the largest equity offering ever, a $70 billion follow-on for Petrobras.