Just when things looked like they were squared away on the research analyst/investment banking relationship front, it turns out its not yet right. Morgan Stanley will take a 4Q03 pretax charge of $38 million ($27 million after tax, or $0.02 per diluted share) to reflect a negative ruling by the Paris Commercial Court in France in an action started by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) involving the investment bank's research coverage. According to the AP, Morgan Stanley published biased research on LMVH to cement its relationship with Gucci Group NV. In 1999, Morgan Stanley advised Gucci in a hostile takeover bid from LMVH. As part of the defense, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute SA purchased close to 70 percent of Gucci shares and will acquire the rest in April when an option is exercised. The AP further reports Morgan Stanley will appeal the ruling but will suspend research coverage of LVMH. When will these guys wise up?