Neal Shear, who had been a veteran commodities dealer at Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), has reportedly left the firm, after being demoted because of the multibillion-dollar losses stemming from bad trading.
After placing some bad bets on "complex mortgage-backed securities known as CDOs, or collateralized debt obligations," the bond-trading department Shear managed ended up costing the company billions, and resulted in a $7.8 billion write-down for Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter.
Much of the blame was placed on poor risk-management frameworks in place, and also poor communication across the division Shear was responsible for.
Initially Shear joined Morgan Stanley as a trader in precious metals in 1982, and has been with the company since then. Sources say he quietly left the company last week, after an internal memo was sent across the company letting workers know.
John Shapiro, now head of Morgan's commodity business, had this to say about Shears' overall performanc through his years at Morgan: "The phenomenal success we have experienced during the lifetime of our business is a testimony to Neal's knowledge of the commodity space and his broad commercial skill set."
