A former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement officer, Lynch joined Morgan Stanley in 2005, performing his job based out of London since May.
According to a memo reviewed by Dow Jones Newswires, he will retain the position of vice chairman and focus on relations with European regulators.
The largest banks on Wall Street continue to face anger over the country’s financial crisis and government bailouts. That anger has fueled efforts on Capital Hill to overhaul the banking system. Legislators have proposed various financial industry options, including a tax on large banks, limits to how large they can grow, and a push to excise proprietary trading and private equity from banks.
The financial industry is facing the same type of scrutiny in Europe, as well as an investigation in Washington by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission over what led to the industry’s meltdown in 2008. During the financial crisis, Morgan Stanley converted into a bank holding company, and attempted to broaden its revenue stream via a joint venture with Citigroup Inc’s Smith Barney brokerage unit.