Standard Chartered in talks to acquire Morgan Stanley India wealth unit

Standard Chartered Plc, the UK bank that earns most of its profit in Asia, is in talks to acquire the Indian wealth management unit of Morgan Stanley, two people familiar with the discussions said. Standard Chartered, which re-entered the private banking business in 2006 after a decade, is planning to expand its India business, one of the people said. Both of them asked not to be identified as the information was private. Morgan Stanley may sell its wealth management unit in India, a person with knowledge of the matter said on November 7. The four-year-old business is headed by Executive Director Himanshu Bhagat based in Mumbai. Standard Chartered's private banking business is headed by Sandeep Das. Standard Chartered and Morgan Stanley declined to comment about the talks in e-mailed statements.