Wall Street is raising payouts to investors on stress-test success

Shares of Morgan Stanley climbed 3.71 per cent during early New York trading

Morgan Stanley led big US banks in raising payouts to investors — by jacking up dividends or announcing plans to buy back shares — after amassing cash piles that easily met the Federal Reserve’s capital requirements.

Dividend payouts by the nation’s six largest lenders will rise, on average, by almost half — and that’s with Citigroup abstaining from an increase — according to statements issued  late on Monday. Morgan Stanley doubled its quarterly payout while also announcing as much as $12 billion in stock buybacks.

“Morgan Stanley has accumulated significant excess capital over the past several years and now has one of