UBS AG
UBS's global business groups are Private Banking, Investment Banking, and Asset Management. Additionally, UBS is one of the leading providers of retail banking and commercial banking services in Switzerland. Overall invested assets are 3.265 trillion Swiss francs (CHF), shareholders' equity is 47.850 billion CHF and market capitalization is 151.203 billion CHF by end of 2Q 2007.
The AG in the company's name means Aktiengesellschaft, which is the equivalent to a shareholder-based corporation in the USA.

In some ways, UBS has evolved on a similar path to its cross-town rival Credit Suisse. Both are Swiss commercial and retail banks which bought major US investment banks (and in the case of UBS, a leading retail stock broker, PaineWebber).

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is an investment banking and global financial services corporation that serves a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. With its global headquarters in New York City and regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong, Morgan Stanley operates in 33 countries with 600 offices, with an approximate employee workforce of 45,000^[3]. The company reports US$749 billion as assets under its management^[4].

The corporation, formed by ex-J.P. Morgan & Co. employees Henry S. Morgan, Harold Stanley and others came into existence on September 16, 1935. In its first year the company operated with a 24% market share (US$1.1 billion) in public offerings and private placements. The main areas of business for the firm today are Global Wealth Management, Institutional Securities and Investment Management. The company found itself in the midst of a management crisis in the late 90s^[5] that saw it lose a lot of talent and competence^[6] and ultimately saw the firing of its then CEO Philip Purcell in 2005. Since then Morgan Stanley has been undergoing a massive restructuring which also involved job cuts across various of its businesses.

To date, Morgan Stanley has been associated with some of the biggest corporate financings and public offerings in the history, most notably the U.S. rail financing of 1939, Shell Union debenture of 1946, Jersey Standard's transaction of 1949, Apple common stock IPO of 1980, Conoco IPO of 1998 and the Google IPO in 2004. The firm credits itself with the first ever computer model for financial analysis^[7].

Barclays PLC is a major global financial services provider operating in Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa. It is a holding company that is listed in London, New York and Tokyo. It operates through its subsidiary Barclays Bank PLC. It is also the current sponsor of the English Premier League.
Barclays PLC is the 18th largest company in the world according to Forbes Global 2000 rankings (2007 list). Barclays PLC is the 4th largest financial services provider in the world by Tier 1 capital ($32.5 billion), and among the 10 largest banks in the industry by market capitalization ($94.79 billion).^{[citation needed]} It is the third largest bank in the United Kingdom based on market capitalization.^[1]
The bank's headquarters are at One Churchill Place in Canary Wharf, in London's Docklands, having moved there in May 2005 from Lombard Street in the City of London.