“We quickly put in place an alternative solution to enable communication with clients,” she said.
Investment banks, particularly their sales and trading departments, are highly reliant on functioning telecommunications as they place billions of dollars worth of trades. Traders, too, require super-fast internet via high-touch electronic trading platforms.
While Optus’ woes proved inconvenient, Morgan Stanley had been able to circumvent the outage and do business. By about 1pm AEST, Optus said some of its services across fixed-line phones and mobiles had been restored.
Optus said the outage was not due to a cyberattack, quelling any immediate fears of last year’s hacks that plagued the reputations of the telecom and separately health insurer Medibank.
Morgan Stanley has been a long-time adviser to Optus and its Singaporean parent Singtel. The US investment bank advised the pair on their role in the National Broadband Network in 2010. Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse also advised Singtel on the sale of Optus’ satellite business in 2013.