independent assets available for
distributions to holders of MSFL securities if they make claims in
respect of such securities in a bankruptcy, resolution or similar
proceeding. Accordingly, any recoveries by such holders will be
limited to those available under the related guarantee by Morgan
Stanley and that guarantee will rank
pari passu
with all other unsecured, unsubordinated
obligations of Morgan Stanley. Holders will have recourse only to a
single claim against Morgan Stanley and its assets under the
guarantee. Holders of securities issued by MSFL should accordingly
assume that in any such proceedings they would not have any
priority over and should be treated
pari passu
with the claims of other unsecured,
unsubordinated creditors of Morgan Stanley, including holders of
Morgan Stanley-issued securities.
■The
amount payable on the securities is not linked to the value of the
underlying index at any time other than the valuation
date. The final index value will be the index
closing value on the valuation date, subject to postponement for
non-index business days and certain market disruption events. Even
if the value of the underlying index appreciates prior to the
valuation date but then drops by the valuation date by an amount
greater than the buffer amount, the payment at maturity will be
significantly less than it would have been had the payment at
maturity been linked to the value of the underlying index prior to
such drop. Although the actual value of the underlying index on the
stated maturity date or at other times during the term of the
securities may be higher than the final index value, the payment at
maturity will be based solely on the index closing value on the
valuation date.
■Investing
in the securities is not equivalent to investing in the underlying
index.
Investing in the securities is
not equivalent to investing in the underlying index or its
component stocks. Investors in the securities will not have voting
rights or rights to receive dividends or other distributions or any
other rights with respect to the stocks that constitute the
underlying index.
■The
rate we are willing to pay for securities of this type, maturity
and issuance size is likely to be lower than the rate implied by
our secondary market credit spreads
and advantageous to us. Both
the lower rate and the inclusion of costs associated with issuing,
selling, structuring and hedging the securities in the original
issue price reduce the economic terms of the securities, cause the
estimated value of the securities to be less than the original
issue price and will adversely affect secondary market
prices. Assuming no change in market conditions or
any other relevant factors, the prices, if any, at which dealers,
including MS & Co., may be willing to purchase the securities
in secondary market transactions will likely be significantly lower
than the original issue price, because secondary market prices will
exclude the issuing, selling, structuring and hedging-related costs
that are included in the original issue price and borne by you and
because the secondary market prices will reflect our secondary
market credit spreads and the bid-offer spread that any dealer
would charge in a secondary market transaction of this type as well
as other factors.
The inclusion of the costs of issuing,
selling, structuring and hedging the securities in the original
issue price and the lower rate we are willing to pay as issuer make
the economic terms of the securities less favorable to you than
they otherwise would be.
However, because the costs associated with
issuing, selling, structuring and hedging the securities are not
fully deducted upon issuance, for a period of up to 6 months
following the issue date, to the extent that MS & Co. may buy
or sell the securities in the secondary market, absent changes in
market conditions, including those related to the underlying index,
and to our secondary market credit spreads, it would do so based on
values higher than the estimated value, and we expect that those
higher values will also be reflected in your brokerage account
statements.
■The
estimated value of the securities is determined by reference to our
pricing and valuation models, which may differ from those of other
dealers and is not a maximum or minimum secondary market
price. These pricing and valuation models are
proprietary and rely in part on subjective views of certain market
inputs and certain assumptions about future events, which may prove
to be incorrect. As a result, because there is no market-standard
way to value these types of securities, our models may yield a
higher estimated value of the securities than those generated by
others, including other dealers in the market, if they attempted to
value the securities. In addition, the estimated value on the
pricing date does not represent a minimum or maximum price at which
dealers, including MS & Co., would be willing to purchase your
securities in the secondary market (if any exists) at any time. The
value of your securities at any time after the date of this
document will vary based on many factors that cannot be predicted
with accuracy, including our creditworthiness and changes in market
conditions. See also “The market price of the securities may be
influenced by many unpredictable factors”
above.
■The
securities will not be listed on any securities exchange and
secondary trading may be limited. The securities will not be listed on any
securities exchange. Therefore, there may be little or no secondary
market for the securities. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, which we
refer to as MS & Co., may, but is not obligated to, make a
market in the securities and, if it once chooses to make a market,
may cease doing so at any time. When it does make a market, it will
generally do so for transactions of routine secondary market size
at prices based on its estimate of the current value of the
securities, taking into account its bid/offer spread, our credit
spreads, market volatility, the notional size of the proposed sale,
the cost of unwinding any related hedging positions, the time
remaining to maturity and the likelihood that it will be able to
resell the securities. Even if there is a secondary market, it may
not provide enough liquidity to allow you to trade or sell the
securities easily. Since other broker-dealers may not participate
significantly in the secondary market for the securities, the price
at which you may be able to trade your securities is likely to
depend on the price, if any, at which MS & Co. is willing to
transact. If, at any time, MS & Co. were to cease making a
market in the securities, it is likely that there would be no
secondary market for the securities. Accordingly, you should be
willing to hold your securities to
maturity.