Morgan Stanley Asia Limited SWIFT/BIC code

What MSHKHKHX means for a payment to Morgan Stanley Asia Limited

The short code MSHKHKHX and the full code MSHKHKHXXXX refer to one and the same institution: Morgan Stanley Asia Limited, with its head office in Hong Kong. The code has a single purpose: it ensures that money from abroad ends up at the right bank. In daily life you mostly come across it on invoices from abroad, in your banking app and in the bank details of Morgan Stanley Asia Limited customers.

This page is meant to help people who receives money at an account at Morgan Stanley Asia Limited and wants to get the details right. The BIC identifies an institution, not a single account; the IBAN or account number does that.

Changed bank details? Be careful

Scammers often send payment requests containing changed bank details sent from what looks like a familiar address. The fact that MSHKHKHX exists does not mean that a request mentioning it is genuine.

Check changed payment details through a separate channel, such as a phone number you already know, not by replying to the message. Be suspicious of time pressure, odd spelling or an email address that differs by one letter. Acted too fast? Contact the bank you paid from straight away and ask them to try to recall the payment; also report it to the police.

Fraud can also target the receiver: someone claims to have sent too much and asks you to return the extra. Wait until the money is actually in your account and check with Morgan Stanley Asia Limited if anything seems off.

Choosing between the 7 SWIFT codes of Morgan Stanley Asia Limited

Morgan Stanley Asia Limited uses 7 separate SWIFT/BIC codes. Only one is the head office code; the rest identify branches or departments, and sometimes internal departments.

For most payments to a private or business account, the head office code MSHKHKHXXXX is what you need. A branch code only makes sense if the account holder explicitly mentions it.

When in doubt, ask the person you are paying which code their bank gave them. Branch codes are more likely to change than MSHKHKHXXXX when a bank merges or closes offices.

Before you send: check the Morgan Stanley Asia Limited code

The safest source for a SWIFT code is the bank details provided by the recipient. If the code you have differs from MSHKHKHX or MSHKHKHXXXX, do not guess: check with the recipient or with Morgan Stanley Asia Limited directly.

With a wrong code, the transfer might get stuck, bounce back or cost extra – sometimes after weeks of searching. Do not forget the account number: a mistake there is more difficult to undo than a wrong code.

Most online banking apps validate the format of an IBAN and some suggest the matching BIC, but that does not prove the account belongs to the right person. If your bank offers it, a name check before sending adds extra certainty. Sending a small amount first can be worth it for large sums despite the extra fee.

A note on our data

This directory is based on publicly available sources and is updated regularly. Institutions merge, close branches and retire codes, and a directory never catches every change immediately. Counts and locations come from our directory and are not confirmed by Morgan Stanley Asia Limited.

Treat this page as a starting point, not as the last word: the recipient’s bank details come first. GoldexPay is an independent comparison service for money transfers and not part of Morgan Stanley Asia Limited. Spotted an error? Tell us via our contact form and we will look into it.

Sending HKD to Morgan Stanley Asia Limited

Hong Kong SAR China uses the Hong Kong Dollar, with the currency code HKD. When you pay money in a different currency gets converted somewhere along the way: by your bank, an intermediary or Morgan Stanley Asia Limited itself. You rarely see a separate charge for that conversion.

Who does the conversion affects how much arrives. Compare what HKD the recipient gets via different providers.

The rate for HKD changes constantly. If you pay regularly, small differences in the rate make a real difference over time.

Paying someone abroad from your Morgan Stanley Asia Limited account

A bank transfer abroad costs rather more than the fee suggests. You pay the fee for the transfer itself, sometimes charges from correspondent banks along the way and, above all, the exchange rate markup when the money is converted.

That exchange rate margin tends to be the biggest item even though it is not listed as a fee. An easy check: put the bank’s rate next to the mid-market rate and look at the difference.

Money transfer services frequently offer a rate near the mid-market rate. Before your next transfer, it is worth to compare the total cost via GoldexPay rather than accepting the bank’s rate by default. You can still use your account at Morgan Stanley Asia Limited to fund the transfer; only the conversion and sending happen elsewhere.

Transfer times and tracking a payment to Morgan Stanley Asia Limited

A SWIFT payment typically needs anywhere from one to several business days – it depends on currency, route and the banks in between. Bank holidays in the sending or receiving country can add a day or more. Extra checks by one of the banks may also cause some delay, regardless of the details.

When a payment takes longer than expected, ask the sending bank for the tracking status and the transaction reference so they can trace it along the chain. Save the payment confirmation until the recipient confirms – you will need it for any trace request.

A delayed transfer has to be investigated by the sending bank, using the payment confirmation. As a recipient, you can look at your account for a partial amount because fees can reduce the amount.

Receiving money from abroad at Morgan Stanley Asia Limited

To receive an international payment at Morgan Stanley Asia Limited, the person paying you needs more than the SWIFT code. The basics are: your name, account number or IBAN, MSHKHKHXXXX or MSHKHKHX and in many cases your postal address.

The sender’s bank might also ask for the bank address of Morgan Stanley Asia Limited. A mistake in the IBAN is harder to fix than it looks; copy them from your banking app rather than typing.

Expect that the amount credited is below the amount on the sender’s receipt. Fees for incoming transfers differ per bank; check the price list of Morgan Stanley Asia Limited. On invoices, it is common to agree who bears the costs.

Why Morgan Stanley Asia Limited has an 8- and an 11-character code

Every SWIFT/BIC code starts with the same eight core characters: four letters for the bank, two letters for the country and two characters for the location. In this case, that core is MSHKHKHX.

The 11-character version adds a three-character extension for a branch or department. If the last three are XXX, the code points to the head office, so MSHKHKHXXXX and MSHKHKHX are interchangeable.

In practice the code is written in capitals, without spaces or dashes. Watch for the letter O and the digit 0 and I versus 1.