Morgan Stanley hires former AIG executive to lead global support centers

By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley <MS.N> hired Ruchika Sethi to lead the bank and wealth management firm's nine support centers worldwide, according to a memo sent to staff on Friday viewed by Reuters.

Sethi joins Morgan Stanley from American International Group, Inc., where she was global deputy chief operating officer and chief transformation officer for AIG's general insurance.

AIG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As global head of Morgan Stanley's in-house centers, Sethi will oversee centers in places such as Bangalore and Budapest that house staff tasked with back office and some business functions related to technology, legal and compliance and operations, among others. Some locations also house call centers where employees handle customer inquiries.

Sethi replaces Arun Kohli, who had run the centers for the past two years in addition to serving as chief operating officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to the memo sent by Rob Rooney, head of technology, operations and firm resilience.

"The global in-house centers around the world are playing an increasingly important role in the success of our firm," Rooney wrote. "Our ambitions for the (centers) and firm wide workforce strategy require senior, full-time focus."

(Reporting By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall; Editing by Toby Chopra and Daniel Wallis)