Dealbreaker reports that both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs look like they, too, have cancelled Christmas. The firms are said to have joined the likes of Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Royal Bank of Scotland and a raft of other banks who are finding it inappropriate to splash shareholder cash at this sensitive time.

Detailed below is a memo Morgan Stanley recently sent to its staff:

'As you know, in terms of the global economy, it now appears that the environment will remain challenging for the foreseeable future. In times like these, as difficult as it may seem for people in our industry, it is the charities and nonprofits that depend explicitly on donations, many from the financial services sector, that will come under the most pressure in the coming months.

To help ease that pressure, we have asked all divisions to forego their Firm-sponsored holiday parties this year and instead help us apply those designated funds toward helping those most in need. Employees who are personally funding their own holiday events are still free to do so; this request is strictly with regard to Firm-sponsored employee events for the holidays'.

Goldman Sachs is also said to have advised the vendor that in previous years had catered its big New York staff Xmas do to stand down.

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Top Firm Cancels Christmas

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