Morgan Stanley to pay $35 mn to settle SEC charges over data security

Morgan Stanley agreed to pay the penalty and settle the case without admitting or denying the allegations.

Morgan Stanley will pay $35 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that one of its units failed to secure the personal data of millions of customers when replacing company hard drives and servers.
 

The bank improperly disposed of thousands of devices and some were auctioned off online without checking that customer data they contained had been deleted, according to the SEC. About 15 million clients’ details were compromised over a five-year period starting 2015.

Following the announcement by the SEC, Morgan Stanley said in a statement that it was pleased to have resolved the matter. “We have previously