Morgan Stanley joins ARS buyback list
August 11, 2008 by Tisa Silver
Filed under Finance
One by one, the nation’s largest investment banks are announcing plans to buy back auction-rate securities. Thick as thieves, aren’t they? ;)
Today’s announcement came from Morgan Stanley, which will buy back up to $4.5 billion worth of auction-rate securities from retail customers who purchased them before February 12th and sold the securities at a loss on or before August 11th.
Securities sold to institutional investors will not be a part of the buyback, but Morgan Stanley will attempt to help the largest of those led into the ARS market with other liquidity solutions.
Last week, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $1.5 million to regulators in Massachusetts. Several states (twelve, as of today) are conducting investigations and more settlements are sure to follow.
