Fitch Takes Rating Actions on Muni Bonds backed by Morgan Stanley & Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A

Business Wire, Oct 16, 2008

NEW YORK -- In conjunction with the recent downgrades on the long- and short-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A., Fitch Ratings has taken various rating actions on municipal bonds with liquidity facilities and letters of credit (LOCs) by Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A.

Fitch downgraded the long- and short-term IDRs of Morgan Stanley to 'A/F1' from 'AA-/F1 ' and Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. to 'A /F1' from 'AA-/F1 '.

For the tender option bonds (TOBs) with credit enhancement by Morgan Stanley where Fitch also maintains long-term ratings on the securities within the TOB trusts, Fitch has taken into consideration the ratings of the underlying bonds.

A spreadsheet detailing the rating actions in question is available on the Fitch Ratings website at www.fitchratings.com under the following headers:

Public Finance then U.S. Public Finance then Special Reports

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.