Morgan Stanley Q1 profit beats estimates on trading boost as it jumps 40%

Morgan Stanley tracked arch rival Goldman Sachs in delivering stronger-than-expected results on Wednesday, but sounded a note of caution about the impact of trade tensions and geopolitical concerns on future trading revenue.

A 40 percent rise in first quarter profit at the bank was driven by the rise in market volatility since February, but Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Pruzan warned that market turbulence like that caused by a tit-for-tat row with China could push clients to the sidelines.

"Volatility is interesting because there's certain volatility that is pretty good and conducive to markets and clients and our results, and then there's volatility, like we saw in February, which was pretty gappy," Pruzan told Reuters.

"Our firm was able to absorb those spiky days, but too much of a good thing is not a good thing for our businesses."

He also pointed to the bank's struggles last year to match a strong first quarter when its sales and trading revenue surged 30 percent. This time round, sales and trading revenue jumped 26 percent in the first three months of the year, driven by strong gains in equities and bond trading.

Wells Fargo faces $1-bn fine from regulators for auto, mortgage loan issues

Wells Fargo & Co has been offered a penalty of $1 billion by regulators to resolve outstanding investigations related to auto insurance and mortgage lending abuses, the third-largest US bank by assets said on Friday.

Reuters reported on Monday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency were preparing a fine of up to $1 billion for Wells Fargo's auto insurance and mortgage lending abuses.

The bank said it may have to revise its quarterly results to reflect the final settlement.

"The CFPB and OCC have collectively offered to resolve for an aggregate of $1 billion in civil money penalties," the bank said in a statement.