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From Bloomberg:

Morgan Stanley suspended a credit trader and disclosed a $120 million "negative adjustment" related to erroneous valuations of his positions, Chief Financial Officer Colm Kelleher said.

The New York-based firm is cooperating with authorities in London after discovering the error in May, Kelleher said in an interview today. He declined to identify the trader. Joseph Eyre, a London-based spokesman for Britain's Financial Services Authority, declined to comment.

Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest U.S. securities firm by market value, joins at least three competitors in identifying incorrect pricing this year. Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-largest bank, announced $2.65 billion of writedowns on asset-backed securities in March after an internal review found intentional "mismarkings" by a group of traders.

Ever notice how these mistakes, I mean, negative adjustments always negative. If they're always mistakes, shouldn't some be positive?

Posted by edelfenbein at June 18, 2008 1:06 PM