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Morgan Stanley global commodities co-head Peter Sherk to leave firm: memo

Published 06/16/2016, 05:30 PM
Updated 06/16/2016, 05:40 PM
© Reuters. The corporate logo of financial firm Morgan Stanley is pictured on the company's world headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City

© Reuters. The corporate logo of financial firm Morgan Stanley is pictured on the company's world headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City

By Olivia Oran

(Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) global commodities group co-head Peter Sherk is leaving the firm, the bank said Thursday in a memo.

Nancy King, who co-heads the business, will become sole head. A Morgan Stanley spokesman confirmed the contents in the memo.

Sherk's departure comes as Morgan Stanley is moving away from riskier parts of the commodities business, like owning and storing oil. Post-crisis regulations and a desire to take less risk have shifted the bank's commodities operation into a more traditional trading business in which the bank stands between buyers and sellers. It is also lending to energy companies and issuing derivatives that allow clients to hedge market risk.

Morgan Stanley is in the process of moving the commodities group, which had been housed in Purchase, New York for more than a decade, to its Times Square (NYSE:SQ) headquarters where it can be more connected with the rest of the firm's fixed income unit.

Sherk and King were named co-heads of commodities in January 2015 after former co-head Simon Greenshields left the firm and his counterpart Colin Bryce moved to a senior advisory role.

Sherk joined Morgan Stanley in 1999 as a natural gas trader. He helped build the bank's North American power and gas practice, rising to become head of natural gas trading in 2006 and head of North American power and gas trading and origination two years later.

King, who joined Morgan Stanley in 1986 as an oil and natural gas trader, will become part of the fixed income operating committee in her new role.

Separately, commodities chief operating officer Martin Mitchell is also leaving Morgan Stanley, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Last November, Morgan Stanley completed the sale of its physical oil business to commodity trading firm Castleton Commodities, after the U.S. Federal Reserve pressured Wall Street banks to get out of that type of business.

The transaction ended Morgan Stanley's three-decade history as a major player in physical oil markets.

Morgan Stanley also sold its controlling stake in oil storage business TransMontaigne to NGL Energy Partners LP in 2014.

© Reuters. The corporate logo of financial firm Morgan Stanley is pictured on the company's world headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City

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