For Immediate Release
Feburary 4, 2008

New York, NY--Morgan Stanley, a leading global financial services firm, will join forces with Women's World Banking (WWB), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of low-income women worldwide, for a two-day summit on creating access to capital and microloans for impoverished entrepreneurs around the world.

"The intermix of capital markets and microfinance institutions can play a critical role not only in generating new profits and lines of business, but also in helping to alleviate poverty worldwide," said WWB President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian.

The two-day conference will be held on February 20 and 21, 2008 at Morgan Stanley's Westchester Campus and will feature case studies, best practices, investment strategies and collaborative opportunities for growing the microfinance industry. The conference will be attended by over 75 microfinance managers representing WWB's network members and others - including nine of the ten network members who were recently listed on Forbes magazine's list of Top 50 Microfinance Institutions.

"Morgan Stanley sees microfinance as an opportunity to leverage the skills and passions of our professionals to add commercial value in an emerging global business that improves the lives of low-income families and communities," said Linda Riefler, Morgan Stanley's Chief Talent Officer.
"This major untapped market is now being recognized for its potential to provide life-changing opportunities for those most in need," said Ellen Brunsberg, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, who has championed the Firm's efforts in this nascent industry. "Morgan Stanley is proud to be a leader among capital markets firms involved in microfinance."

Data from WWB's global network show that access to credit in the form of microloans and other assets enables poor women to succeed as entrepreneurs. When women succeed in business, they invest their earnings in ways that improve the lives of their families and communities.

WWB is a global network of 54 microfinance providers and banks, working in 30 countries to bring financial services and information to poor entrepreneurs. The network serves 9 million microentrepreneurs directly, and another 14 million indirectly through its bank partners and others. The network is supported by a global team based in New York which delivers expertise in product design and distribution, access to capital markets, and customer care and insight. For more information about WWB, visit www.swwb.org.

Morgan Stanley's dedicated microfinance team, the Microfinance Institutions Group, operates globally to leverage local and market expertise throughout the Firm. The group seeks to originate microfinance-related transactions for the capital markets and to manage Morgan Stanley's direct and indirect equity involvement in microfinance.

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 600 offices in 33 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

Contact for Women's World Banking:
Clara Perez
Group Gordon
Clara @GroupGordon.com
212-780-0200 x 414

Contact for Morgan Stanley:
Carissa Ramirez
Morgan Stanley
Carissa.ramirez @morganstanley.com
212-762-6834