Morgan Stanley Shuts New York Metals Trading

Morgan Stanley is closing its precious metals trading desk in New York and moving its operations to London, even as rival banks bulk up their commodities trading operations in the U.S.

The bank's main precious metals trading operations are based in London and the move is being made to streamline its operations, Morgan Stanley said.

There is no timeline for when the New York traders will relocate to London. Ray Key, chief precious metals trader in London, oversees the group.

Chris Jordan, executive director of spot gold trading, will not be relocating to London. A spokesman for Morgan Stanley confirmed Jordan has left the bank. There are no plans to replace Jordan at Morgan Stanley. Jordan will join JPMorgan Chase next month.

A spokesman for JPMorgan confirmed that Jones will hold a similar position to the one he held at Morgan Stanley.

The moves comes as a host of Wall Street firms establish teams to take advantage of robust markets in commodities. Credit Suisse recently teamed with Glencore, the commodities firm, to expand its oil derivatives business. In January, Bear Stearns said it would start trading precious metals, and firms including Cantor Fitzgerald, Merrill Lynch, HSBC, UBS and Barclays Capital have been building up their energy trading desks.