Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay $54m (€43.5m) to settle charges of sex-bias filed against it by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Allison Schieffelin, the bond saleswoman whose 1998 complaint started the case, will get $12m.

She accused the bank of refusing to promote her to managing director because of her sex and also claimed she was dismissed in 2000 as a direct result of her action against the bank.