Morgan Stanley to exit US equity options market-making unit – Bloomberg

Published 19/06/2025, 01:42
© Reuters

Investing.com-- Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is closing its automated market-making unit for U.S. equity options, marking a retreat from a growing corner of the derivatives market popular with retail traders, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said the move reflects challenges faced by traditional banks competing with proprietary firms like Citadel Securities and IMC Trading, which dominate the space with advanced technology and fewer regulatory hurdles.

Morgan Stanley was the last major bank paying retail brokers for options order flow, a practice now led by high-frequency firms. In Q1, it accounted for 6.4% of such payments, as per the Bloomberg report.

Some employees may be reassigned internally, the report added.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers
© 2007-2025 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.