Morgan Stanley : Fined $2 Million for Short-Selling Reporting Violations

By Chelsey Dulaney 

Morgan Stanley will pay $2 million to settle charges that a unit failed to fully report its short-interest positions over a period of more than six years, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Wednesday.

Finra said that Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC violated short-interest reporting and short-sale rules by failing to completely and accurately report its short interest positions in certain securities involving billions of shares.

A representative for Morgan Stanley couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Finra also said that Morgan Stanley's supervisory system was deficient as it failed to detect and prevent the violations.

Firms are required to regularly report their total short positions in all customer and proprietary firm accounts in all equity securities to Finra. The information is then published by Finra or the listing exchange.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com