UPDATE 2-Morgan Stanley in JV with Vietnam securities firm

(Recast with Morgan Stanley comment, underwriting licence)

By Nguyen Nhat Lam

HANOI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS.N) said on Wednesday it had established a joint venture with small Vietnamese brokerage Gateway Securities, as global banks vie for part of the country's surging capital markets activity.

Morgan Stanley Gateway Securities Joint Stock Company, 49 percent owned by Morgan Stanley, has received an underwriting licence from the Vietnamese government and its operation will be based in Hanoi, the investment bank said in a statement.

"The new platform will allow us to serve local and international clients, and to contribute to the country's economic growth and the development of Vietnam's capital markets," Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, said.

The State Securities Commission, Vietnam's stock market watchdog, said the brokerage would have a registered capital of 300 billion dong ($18.7 million).

A source close to the deal told Reuters the bank's initial bid last year to form a securities joint venture with state-run State Capital Investment Corp (SCIC) was rejected by Vietnam, which gave no reason for its decision.

Morgan Stanley along with Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) were chosen as consultants for three Vietnamese banks on their partial privatisations last year.

The bank also acquired a 10 percent stake in oil monopoly Petrovietnam's financial arm PVFC for more than $200 million last year.

Vietnam's main stock index gained 23 percent last year despite suffering a long slide from October. The index rose 145 percent in 2006. (Editing by Darren Schuettler)