Almost five years after the fall of Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley has yet to pay a federal fine related to the U.S. financial crisis. In fact, it is the only major investment bank in the country that has not been accused of breaking the law. On its website, the Securities and Exchange Commission drew up a list of firms that have all been guilty of crimes related to the financial crisis. The list included Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase.

During the run-up to the financial crisis, Morgan Stanley was one of the largest underwriters of mortgage bonds, including some that were backed by loans.

Although Deutsche Bank had been sued by the Justice Department, the firm was the only one that came close to Morgan Stanley's clean record. The German bank agreed last year to pay a USD202 million fine to settle charges that it deceived the FHA into insuring faulty mortgages. Deutsche Bank, however, was nowhere to be found on the SEC's list of lawbreaking firms.