Morgan Stanley Fair Fund

On July 24, 2014 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) issued an Order Instituting Cease-and-Desist Proceedings pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act of 1933, Making Findings, and Imposing a Cease-and-Desist Order (“Order”) against Morgan Stanley and Co. LLC (f/k/a Morgan Stanley and Co. Incorporated), Morgan Stanley ABS Capital I Inc., and Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC (collectively “Morgan Stanley” or “Respondents”). The Order authorized the creation of a Fair Fund pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended.

The Commission charged Morgan Stanley and Co. LLC and its affiliates with misleading public disclosures regarding the number of delinquent loans in two subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) transactions offered in 2007 – Morgan Stanley ABS Capital I Inc. Trust 2007-NC4 (“NC4”) and Morgan Stanley ABS Capital I Inc. Trust 2007-HE7 (“HE7”) (collectively “the transactions”), in violation of Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”). The funds are then allocated to each Trust’s Approved Eligible Investors based on the proportion of their claim to all other Eligible Claims for the Trust. As stated in the Order, Morgan Stanley failed to remove or accurately disclose loans with either current and/or historical delinquencies made in each transaction offering documents.

You received a Notice Packet because records indicate you may have purchased Eligible Certificates during the Eligible Purchase Periods and not sold within that time-frame. The Notice Packet you received is designed to notify you of the Fair Fund and to inform you that you may be eligible to receive payment form the Morgan Stanley Fair Fund.

To view a copy of the Notice, click here.

To qualify for a payment from the Morgan Stanley Fair Fund, you must have purchased Eligible Certificates during the Eligible Purchase Periods and not sold within that time-frame. The relevant CUSIPS numbers for Eligible Certificates are listed in Appendix A to the Plan

You are excluded from participation in the Fair Fund if you are a Respondent or any other entity or individual who:

1. Are or have at any time been a parent, subsidiary, affiliate, partner or member of Respondents;
2. Exercised control of or were controlled by Respondents; or
3. During the period 2007 to the present, were employed by, or served as officers or directors, or were members of Respondents or any other entity that is deemed to be an Excluded Party pursuant to parts (a) and (b) hereof.

Pursuant to the Order, Respondents paid disgorgement of $160,627,852, prejudgment interest of $17,995,437 and a civil money penalty of $96,376,711, for a total of $275,000,000 to be distributed to harmed investors.

If you purchased the Eligible Certificates during the Eligible Purchase Periods, you must submit a completed Proof of Claim Form with the necessary documentation so that it is postmarked or, if not sent by U.S. Mail, received by December 12, 2020 to the Fund Pal Administrator at the address below:

Morgan Stanley Fair Fund P.O. Box 9349 Dublin, OH 43017-4249  Questions@MSFairFund.com

You must document each transaction that you include on your Proof of Claim Form. Acceptable forms of supporting documentation include:

1. Trade confirmation slips that list the Eligible Cusip, the name of the beneficial owner, the type of transaction, the date of the transaction, the number of Eligible Certificates, and the total amount of the transaction; or
2. Monthly statements that detail all account activity within a month.

The deadline to submit a completed and signed Proof of Claim form with the necessary documentation is December 12, 2020. It must be postmarked, or if not sent by U.S. Mail, received, by this date.

Yes. If your Proof of Claim form is deficient, you will receive a Claim Deficiency Notice setting forth the reason why the claim is deficient and advising you of the opportunity to cure such deficiency.

Until all claims have been fully processed, it is not possible to determine the amount of any individual payment because the amount will depend on a variety of factors, including the number of valid claims processed, the amount of Eligible Certificates that you purchased, and when you purchased and sold these certificates.

For additional information as to how your claim will be calculated, please view the Plan of Allocation for the Morgan Stanley Fair Fund (the provisions within paragraphs 59 through 64 of the Distribution Plan).

The Court has appointed Garden City Group, LLC now known as Epiq Class Action and Claims Solutions to serve as the Fund Plan Administrator.

You can obtain a copy of the Distribution Plan, Notice and Proof of Claim form by either downloading these documents from the Important Documents page on this website or you can receive a Notice Packet in the mail by contacting the Fund Plan Administrator at 1-855-907-3235 (Toll-Free) or by emailing Questions@MSFairFund.com.

Additional information regarding the Morgan Stanley Fair Fund can be found on this website. You can obtain additional information by calling the Morgan Stanley Fair Fund’s toll-free hot line at 1-855-907-3235 in the United States, or by email at Questions@MSFairFund.com.