“Chinatrust’s management hasn’t been informed about the Morgan Stanley plan,” Chinatrust Chief Strategy Officer Jason Wang, who is visiting the U.S., said in a phone interview yesterday. Wang said he and Chinatrust executives have talked with executives of more than 10 foreign and local investors, including Morgan Stanley, about its plan to sell a stake, though no final agreements have been made.

Morgan Stanley has filed an application to Taiwan’s Investment Commission to invest about NT$20 billion ($610 million) to buy a 10 percent stake in Chinatrust Financial, the Taipei-based Economic Daily News reported today, without citing anyone.

Morgan Stanley spokeswoman Cheung Po-ling declined to comment.

Chinatrust Financial has set no ceiling on the stake to be sold to foreign investors, Wang said on June 6. A team of Chinatrust managers, led by Wang, is studying a plan to sell a stake to foreign investors to improve corporate governance and expand overseas. The study should be completed by the end of 2007, Wang said on June 6.

New York-based Morgan Stanley is the world’s second-biggest securities firm.

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