Ex-German FM Joerg Kukies to join Morgan Stanley

Joerg Kukies, a former German finance minister and long-time investment banker, is joining Morgan Stanley as its country head for Germany and Austria.

Kukies will assume the new position in May, initially based in London.

After a cooling-off period, he is scheduled to transfer to Frankfurt in November.

Frankfurt is Morgan Stanley’s main base in Germany and serves as its hub for continental Europe.

Kukies previously spent nearly two decades at Goldman Sachs Group, joining in 2000 and later becoming head of its German business and co-chair for Germany and Austria.

He left the bank in 2018 when he was appointed state secretary for financial market policy and European policy at Germany’s Finance Ministry.

During his time in government, he was involved in shaping the European Union’s joint borrowing programme created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A close economic adviser to former chancellor Olaf Scholz, Kukies took over as finance minister in November 2024, following the collapse of Germany’s three-party coalition.

He left that position in May 2025.

Kukies’ move to Morgan Stanley was earlier reported by Manager Magazin.

Morgan Stanley has been expanding its presence in Germany in recent years.

Its Frankfurt workforce has grown from about 150 employees in 2018 to around 500, noted Bloomberg.

The bank also opened a Munich office roughly two years ago to work with investment banking clients in the technology, private equity and industrial sectors.

Last year, Goldman Sachs Group announced the return of Rishi Sunak, the former UK Prime Minister, as a senior advisor.

Sunak previously worked at Goldman Sachs, beginning as a summer intern in investment banking in 2000 and later as an analyst between 2001 and 2004.

“Ex-German FM Joerg Kukies to join Morgan Stanley” was originally created and published by Private Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.

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