Pandit may return to Morgan Stanley

Now that Phillip Purcell has been ousted from the top job at Morgan Stanley, the chances of "executives-in-exile," including Vikram Pandit and several others who left the firm because of disagreement with him returning have brightened, a leading US daily said on Monday.

"Most have not taken new jobs," said The Wall Street Journal. "And despite the bad blood between them and Mr Purcell and a vow by the search committee to exclude them from consideration, there appears to be an increasing chance that one or more of them may return. Morgan Stanley declined to elaborate on the search process."

The paper said that dissident alumni shareholders who successfully campaigned for Purcell's ouster have advocated their return. And the same amumni may nominate one or more of the exiles if they wage a proxy fight for board seats at the next annual meeting in early 2006, according to a person close to the group.

The 'civil war' waged by the alumni was touched off by Purcell's replacement of Stephan Newhouse as well as Pandit, the institutional securities chief, and equities chief John Havens.