Morgan Stanley has open sourced Calm via FINOS to tackle compliance bottlenecks, aiming to set a new industry standard for automated security and regulatory validation.
Morgan Stanley has open sourced its Common Architectural Language Model (Calm) v1.0 through FINOS on August 15, 2025, positioning the tool as a potential industrywide standard for automated compliance and security validation.
Calm translates application design into code, continuously updates architectural diagrams, and embeds security and compliance checks. Already deployed across more than 2,000 applications industrywide, including 1400 within Morgan Stanley, it has shortened compliance review cycles from months to weeks.
The framework was built to solve one of finance’s biggest bottlenecks: developers repeatedly delayed by manual architecture diagrams and lengthy compliance approvals. “Architecture is a critical part of the software development lifecycle. Architecture decisions are complex to change, so getting it right the first time is imperative,” said Trevor Brosnan, Morgan Stanley’s global head of technology strategy, architecture and modernisation.
Distinguished Engineer Matthew Bain described Calm as the product of a FINOS-backed “architecture-as-code” initiative launched in 2023. “Calm is already in use in several firms … and has already underpinned well in excess of 2000 application deployments,” he said.
The tool’s efficiency is striking. “If you don’t want to use Calm … it’s going to take you six months. So, which do you want? Two weeks or six months?” said Jim Gough, Morgan Stanley distinguished engineer.
For an industry once hesitant about open source due to intellectual property concerns, the release underscores how attitudes have shifted. “The industry was pretty restricted because of a sensitivity around intellectual property,” said Morgan Stanley’s Dov Katz. Today, open source is increasingly seen as a driver of innovation, collaboration, and regulatory alignment.
“Open sourcing Calm enables it to become the standard for software developers and architects across the industry, streamlining development as it continues to evolve alongside industry needs,” Brosnan said.
