NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Like other Wall Street firms, Morgan Stanley appears set to implement changes to its pay practices.
The investment bank may defer more of its senior executives' compensation and compare their pay against competing firms, according to a report in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.
Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) top execs may receive a quarter of their 2009 compensation in cash, with the rest as deferred stock, the paper said. In recent years, employees have received a greater portion in cash.
The Journal said Morgan Stanley's compensation committee has met over recent weeks to discuss its payment overhaul plan, including a meeting that lasted seven hours.
The report added that one idea on the table is for the top 30 Morgan Stanley executives to submit 65% or more of their pay to deferrals or "clawbacks," and return their pay in the event of future losses for the firm.
The bank would also scale 20% of the total compensation in shares based on its share price compared to peers' share price, and that portion would be based on Morgan Stanley's return on equity against a fixed benchmark over a three-year period, the Journal said.
Rival Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) announced earlier this month that its top executives would not receive cash bonuses this year.
Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO John Mack said he would forgo his bonus for the year, citing the "unprecedented environment and the extraordinary financial support provided to our industry" in a memo to employees. It would mark the third year that Mack, who is set to step down at the end of the year, won't accept a bonus.
Morgan Stanley co-president James Gorman, Mack's successor, will take the helm in January and will help make final decisions on the compensation plans, the Journal said.
Earlier this year, the bank announced plans to payout a larger portion of annual bonuses in the form of stock instead of cash, since changes in the stock price would more closely mirror the firm's overall performance.
Morgan Stanley received $10 billion in funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, which it repaid in July.
A spokeswoman from Morgan Stanley declined to comment. 
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