The former Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling offered up one of the more well regarded cabinet performances during Gordon Brown’s period in Number 10. Together, Darling and Brown were hailed for their work in easing the country through the dramatic and turbulent early days of the Great Recession.
In the week that his former boss, Gordon Brown, joined the asset manager Pimco as an adviser, it has now been announced that Darling will join the board of Morgan Stanley.
Job losses
As the board at the banking giant prepares to welcome the former Chancellor, the company is set to shed 1,200 workers, which equates to 2 percent of the company’s workforce. Those leaving the company will be mostly comprised of back office staff and fixed income and commodities traders.
The job shedding, and the parachuting in of financial ‘miracle worker’ Darling, is no doubt a direct result of Morgan Stanley’s income division suffering a 42 percent drop in revenues over its third quarter as stricter rules on bank capital reduce available liquidity for bonds. Overall earnings at the company have fallen 41 percent to $1bn (£671m) and the next quarter doesn’t look too red hot either.
Despite its woeful financial performance, Morgan Stanley will pay Darling an expected  $75,000 pay packet as well as some stock options.
