Morphed banks Morgan Stanley, Goldman search for deposits

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, the two largest remaining independent US securities firms, may add to the $81 billion of financial services deals unveiled during the past week as they morph into banks.

Morgan Stanley plans to sell as much as a 20 percent stake for $8.4 billion to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Japan's largest bank, to shore up capital. Goldman Sachs said that its new status as a bank will help it purchase assets.

Stock market declines of the past 10 days helped push Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc into bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch & Co into a takeover by Bank of America Corp.