Morgan Stanley, which today revealed that underlying pre-tax profits at its institutional securities arm trebled last year, plans to cut its risk-weighted assets further and faster than originally planned after hitting a target a year ahead of schedule.

The US investment bank today reported its full-year 2012 results, which showed pre-tax profits at its institutional securities unit - excluding swings in the value of its own credit - trebled from $910m in 2011 to $2.7bn last year. This was on the back of an 11% rise in net revenues to $15bn and a 17% cut in compensation to $6.7bn.