Before the
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
AMENDED AND RESTATED APPLICATION
FOR AN ORDER PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 6(C) AND 17(B) OF THE INVESTMENT
COMPANY ACT OF 1940 EXEMPTING CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS FROM THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 17(A) OF
THE ACT AND PURSUANT TO SECTION 17(D) OF THE ACT AND RULE 17D-1
THEREUNDER PERMITTING CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS
In the matter of application
of
MORGAN
STANLEY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY INVESTMENT ADVISORS INC.
VAN
KAMPEN ASSET MANAGEMENT
MORGAN STANLEY &
CO. INCORPORATED
MORGAN
STANLEY BALANCED FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY U.S. GOVERNMENT MONEY MARKET TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY DIVIDEND GROWTH SECURITIES INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY NATURAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT SECURITIES INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY SPECIAL GROWTH FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY GLOBAL DIVIDEND GROWTH SECURITIES
MORGAN
STANLEY LIMITED TERM MUNICIPAL TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY TECHNOLOGY FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY SMALL-MID SPECIAL VALUE FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY GLOBAL ADVANTAGE FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY LIMITED DURATION U.S. GOVERNMENT TRUST
ACTIVE
ASSETS CALIFORNIA TAX-FREE TRUST
ACTIVE
ASSETS GOVERNMENT SECURITIES TRUST
ACTIVE
ASSETS INSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT SECURITIES TRUST
ACTIVE
ASSETS INSTITUTIONAL MONEY TRUST
ACTIVE
ASSETS MONEY TRUST
ACTIVE
ASSETS TAX-FREE TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY EQUALLY-WEIGHTED S&P 500 FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY SERIES FUNDS
MORGAN
STANLEY HEALTH SCIENCES TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY SPECIAL VALUE FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY STRATEGIST FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY HIGH YIELD SECURITIES INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY INTERNATIONAL VALUE EQUITY FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY LIQUID ASSET FUND INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY MID-CAP VALUE FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY S&P 500 INDEX FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY FUNDAMENTAL VALUE FUND
1
MORGAN
STANLEY MID CAP GROWTH FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY PRIME INCOME TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY VALUE FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY EUROPEAN EQUITY FUND INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY FLEXIBLE INCOME TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY INTERNATIONAL FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY MORTGAGE SECURITIES TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY PACIFIC GROWTH FUND INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY CAPITAL OPPORTUNITIES TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY REAL ESTATE FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY CALIFORNIA TAX-FREE DAILY INCOME TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY CALIFORNIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY FOCUS GROWTH FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY FX SERIES FUNDS
MORGAN
STANLEY NEW YORK MUNICIPAL MONEY MARKET TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY NEW YORK TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY SELECT DIMENSIONS INVESTMENT SERIES
MORGAN
STANLEY TAX-EXEMPT SECURITIES TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY TAX-FREE DAILY INCOME TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY U.S. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE FUND
MORGAN
STANLEY VARIABLE INVESTMENT SERIES
MORGAN
STANLEY MUNICIPAL INCOME OPPORTUNITIES TRUST II
MORGAN
STANLEY MUNICIPAL INCOME OPPORTUNITIES TRUST III
MORGAN
STANLEY MUNICIPAL INCOME OPPORTUNITIES TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY MUNICIPAL PREMIUM INCOME TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY INCOME SECURITIES INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY CALIFORNIA INSURED MUNICIPAL INCOME TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY CALIFORNIA QUALITY MUNICIPAL SECURITIES
MORGAN
STANLEY INSURED CALIFORNIA MUNICIPAL SECURITIES
MORGAN
STANLEY INSURED MUNICIPAL BOND TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY INSURED MUNICIPAL INCOME TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY INSURED MUNICIPAL SECURITIES
MORGAN
STANLEY INSURED MUNICIPAL TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY NEW YORK QUALITY MUNICIPAL SECURITIES
MORGAN
STANLEY QUALITY MUNICIPAL INCOME TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY QUALITY MUNICIPAL INVESTMENT TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY QUALITY MUNICIPAL SECURITIES
MORGAN
STANLEY INSTITUTIONAL FUND TRUST
MORGAN
STANLEY INSTITUTIONAL LIQUIDITY FUNDS
MORGAN
STANLEY INSTITUTIONAL FUND, INC.
THE
UNIVERSAL INSTITUTIONAL FUNDS, INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY EMERGING MARKETS DOMESTIC DEBT FUND, INC.
THE
TURKISH INVESTMENT FUND, INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY ASIA-PACIFIC FUND, INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY CHINA A SHARE FUND, INC.
2
MORGAN
STANLEY EASTERN EUROPE FUND, INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY EMERGING MARKETS DEBT FUND, INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY EMERGING MARKETS FUND, INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY GLOBAL OPPORTUNITY BOND FUND, INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY HIGH YIELD FUND, INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY INDIA INVESTMENT FUND, INC.
MORGAN
STANLEY FRONTIER EMERGING MARKETS FUND, INC.
THE
LATIN AMERICAN DISCOVERY FUND, INC.
THE
MALAYSIA FUND, INC.
THE
THAI FUND, INC.
VAN
KAMPEN EQUITY TRUST
VAN
KAMPEN MONEY MARKET FUND
VAN
KAMPEN CAPITAL GROWTH FUND
VAN
KAMPEN TAX FREE MONEY FUND
VAN
KAMPEN SERIES FUND, INC.
VAN
KAMPEN SENIOR LOAN FUND
VAN
KAMPEN CORPORATE BOND FUND
VAN
KAMPEN EQUITY TRUST II
VAN
KAMPEN HIGH YIELD FUND
VAN
KAMPEN TRUST
VAN KAMPEN PARTNERS TRUST
VAN
KAMPEN RETIREMENT STRATEGY TRUST
VAN
KAMPEN GOVERNMENT SECURITIES FUND
VAN
KAMPEN PENNSYLVANIA TAX FREE INCOME FUND
VAN
KAMPEN TAX FREE TRUST
VAN
KAMPEN TRUST II
VAN
KAMPEN GROWTH AND INCOME FUND
VAN
KAMPEN TAX-EXEMPT TRUST
VAN
KAMPEN COMSTOCK FUND
VAN
KAMPEN ENTERPRISE FUND
VAN
KAMPEN EQUITY AND INCOME FUND
VAN
KAMPEN EXCHANGE FUND
VAN
KAMPEN HARBOR FUND
VAN
KAMPEN LIFE INVESTMENT TRUST
VAN
KAMPEN LIMITED DURATION FUND
VAN
KAMPEN REAL ESTATE SECURITIES FUND
VAN
KAMPEN U.S. GOVERNMENT TRUST
VAN KAMPEN SENIOR INCOME
TRUST
VAN KAMPEN ADVANTAGE
MUNICIPAL INCOME TRUST II
VAN KAMPEN CALIFORNIA VALUE
MUNICIPAL INCOME TRUST
VAN KAMPEN DYNAMIC CREDIT
OPPORTUNITIES FUND
VAN KAMPEN MASSACHUSETTS
VALUE MUNICIPAL INCOME TRUST
VAN KAMPEN MUNICIPAL
OPPORTUNITY TRUST
VAN KAMPEN MUNICIPAL TRUST
VAN KAMPEN OHIO QUALITY
MUNICIPAL TRUST
VAN KAMPEN PENNSYLVANIA
VALUE MUNICIPAL INCOME TRUST
3
VAN KAMPEN SELECT SECTOR
MUNICIPAL TRUST
VAN KAMPEN TRUST FOR INSURED
MUNICIPALS
VAN KAMPEN TRUST FOR
INVESTMENT GRADE MUNICIPALS
VAN KAMPEN TRUST FOR
INVESTMENT GRADE NEW JERSEY MUNICIPALS
VAN KAMPEN TRUST FOR
INVESTMENT GRADE NEW YORK MUNICIPALS
VAN KAMPEN BOND FUND
VAN KAMPEN HIGH INCOME TRUST
II
CITIGROUP ALTERNATIVE
INVESTMENTS LLC
CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS
INC.
CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS
LIMITED
CITIGROUP FINANCIAL PRODUCTS
INC.
CITIBANK, N.A.
CITIBANK CANADA
CITIBANK INTERNATIONAL PLC
LMP CORPORATE LOAN FUND INC.
File No. 812-13656
June 15,
2009
Copies to:
Stefanie
V. Chang Yu, Esq.
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Marianna
Maffucci
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Morgan
Stanley Investment Management Inc.
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Citigroup
Global Markets Inc.
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522
Fifth Avenue
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388
Greenwich Street, 17
th
Floor
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New
York, New York 10036
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New
York, New York 10013
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Communications,
copies and notice to:
Brian
M. Kaplowitz, Esq.
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Nora
M. Jordan, Esq.
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Sidley
Austin
LLP
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Davis
Polk & Wardwell
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787
Seventh Avenue
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450
Lexington Avenue
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New
York, New York 10019
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New
York, New York 10017
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This
Application consists of 87 pages (including Exhibits),
which
have been numbered sequentially.
4
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
I.
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Summary of Application
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9
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II.
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Description of the Applicants
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12
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A.
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The Funds
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12
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B.
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The Advisers
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12
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C.
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The Trading Entities
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14
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III.
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The Joint Venture
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15
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A.
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Ownership of the Joint Venture
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15
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B.
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The Contributed Businesses
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C.
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Governance of the Joint Venture
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IV.
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Separation Between the MS Entities and the Citi Entities
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18
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V.
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Consolidation in the Financial Services Industry
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21
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VI.
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The Securities Transactions
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24
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A.
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The Securities Transactions Generally
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24
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B.
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Joint Transactions
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26
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VII.
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Relevant Provisions and Relief Requested
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31
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A.
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Relevant Provisions
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31
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B.
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Authority for the Order
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34
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C.
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Relief Requested
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35
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VIII.
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Rationale for Relief
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36
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IX.
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Precedent
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43
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X.
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Applicants Conditions
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47
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A.
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Structural
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47
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B.
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Transactional
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50
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XI.
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Conclusion
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57
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XII.
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Procedural
Matters
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58
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5
UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA
before
the
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
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In
the Matter of
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Morgan
Stanley Investment Management Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Investment Advisors Inc.
Van
Kampen Asset Management
Morgan
Stanley & Co. Incorporated
Morgan
Stanley Balanced Fund
Morgan
Stanley U.S. Government Money Market Trust
Morgan
Stanley Dividend Growth Securities Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Natural Resource Development Securities Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Special Growth Fund
Morgan
Stanley Global Dividend Growth Securities
Morgan
Stanley Limited Term Municipal Trust
Morgan
Stanley Technology Fund
Morgan
Stanley Small-Mid Special Value Fund
Morgan
Stanley Global Advantage Fund
Morgan
Stanley Limited Duration U.S. Government Trust
Active
Assets California Tax-Free Trust
Active
Assets Government Securities Trust
Active
Assets Institutional Government Securities Trust
Active
Assets Institutional Money Trust
Active
Assets Money Trust
Active
Assets Tax-Free Trust
Morgan
Stanley Equally-Weighted S&P 500 Fund
Morgan
Stanley Series Funds
Morgan
Stanley Health Sciences Trust
Morgan
Stanley Special Value Fund
Morgan
Stanley Strategist Fund
Morgan
Stanley High Yield Securities Inc.
Morgan
Stanley International Value Equity Fund
Morgan
Stanley Liquid Asset Fund Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Mid-Cap Value Fund
Morgan
Stanley S&P 500 Index Fund
Morgan
Stanley Convertible Securities Trust
Morgan
Stanley Fundamental Value Fund
Morgan
Stanley Mid Cap Growth Fund
Morgan
Stanley Prime Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley Value Fund
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Application
for an order pursuant to Sections 6(c) and 17(b) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940 exempting certain transactions from the provisions of
Sections 17(a) of the Act and pursuant to Section 17(d) of the
Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder permitting certain transactions
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6
Morgan
Stanley European Equity Fund Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Flexible Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley International Fund
Morgan
Stanley Mortgage Securities Trust
Morgan
Stanley Pacific Growth Fund Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Capital Opportunities Trust
Morgan
Stanley Real Estate Fund
Morgan
Stanley California Tax-Free Daily Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley California Tax-Free Income Fund
Morgan
Stanley Focus Growth Fund
Morgan
Stanley FX Series Funds
Morgan
Stanley New York Municipal Money Market Trust
Morgan
Stanley New York Tax-Free Income Fund
Morgan
Stanley Select Dimensions Investment Series
Morgan
Stanley Tax-Exempt Securities Trust
Morgan
Stanley Tax-Free Daily Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley U.S. Government Securities Trust
Morgan
Stanley Global Infrastructure Fund
Morgan
Stanley Variable Investment Series
Morgan
Stanley Municipal Income Opportunities Trust II
Morgan
Stanley Municipal Income Opportunities Trust III
Morgan
Stanley Municipal Income Opportunities Trust
Morgan
Stanley Municipal Premium Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley Income Securities Inc.
Morgan
Stanley California Insured Municipal Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley California Quality Municipal Securities
Morgan
Stanley Insured California Municipal Securities
Morgan
Stanley Insured Municipal Bond Trust
Morgan
Stanley Insured Municipal Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley Insured Municipal Securities
Morgan
Stanley Insured Municipal Trust
Morgan
Stanley New York Quality Municipal Securities
Morgan
Stanley Quality Municipal Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley Quality Municipal Investment Trust
Morgan
Stanley Quality Municipal Securities
Morgan
Stanley Institutional Fund Trust
Morgan
Stanley Institutional Liquidity Funds
Morgan
Stanley Institutional Fund, Inc.
The
Universal Institutional Funds, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund, Inc.
The
Turkish Investment Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Asia-Pacific Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley China A Share Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Eastern Europe Fund, Inc.
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Morgan
Stanley Emerging Markets Debt Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Emerging Markets Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Global Opportunity Bond Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley High Yield Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley India Investment Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Frontier Emerging Markets Fund, Inc.
The
Latin American Discovery Fund, Inc.
The
Malaysia Fund, Inc.
The
Thai Fund, Inc.
Van
Kampen Equity Trust
Van
Kampen Money Market Fund
Van
Kampen Capital Growth Fund
Van
Kampen Tax Free Money Fund
Van
Kampen Series Fund, Inc.
Van
Kampen Senior Loan Fund
Van
Kampen Corporate Bond Fund
Van
Kampen Equity Trust II
Van
Kampen High Yield Fund
Van
Kampen Trust
Van
Kampen Partners Trust
Van
Kampen Retirement Strategy Trust
Van
Kampen Government Securities Fund
Van
Kampen Pennsylvania Tax Free Income Fund
Van
Kampen Tax Free Trust
Van
Kampen Trust II
Van
Kampen Growth and Income Fund
Van
Kampen Tax-Exempt Trust
Van
Kampen Comstock Fund
Van
Kampen Enterprise Fund
Van
Kampen Equity and Income Fund
Van
Kampen Exchange Fund
Van
Kampen Harbor Fund
Van
Kampen Life Investment Trust
Van
Kampen Limited Duration Fund
Van
Kampen Real Estate Securities Fund
Van
Kampen U.S. Government Trust
Van
Kampen Senior Income Trust
Van
Kampen Advantage Municipal Income Trust II
Van
Kampen California Value Municipal Income Trust
Van
Kampen Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund
Van
Kampen Massachusetts Value Municipal Income Trust
Van
Kampen Municipal Opportunity Trust
Van
Kampen Municipal Trust
Van
Kampen Ohio Quality Municipal Trust
Van
Kampen Pennsylvania Value Municipal Income Trust
Van
Kampen Select Sector Municipal Trust
Van
Kampen Trust for Insured Municipals
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Van
Kampen Trust for Investment Grade Municipals
Van
Kampen Trust for Investment Grade New Jersey Municipals
Van
Kampen Trust for Investment Grade New York Municipals
Van
Kampen Bond Fund
Van
Kampen High Income Trust II
Citigroup
Alternative Investments LLC
Citigroup
Global Markets Inc.
Citigroup
Global Markets Limited
Citigroup
Financial Products, Inc.
Citibank,
N.A.
Citibank
Canada
Citibank
International plc
LMP
Corporate Loan Fund Inc.
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I.
Summary
of Application
This Application is submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the Commission) on behalf of the applicants named herein (the Applicants)
pursuant to Sections 6(c) and 17(b) of the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the Act), for an order exempting securities transactions of
the type described below from the provisions of Sections 17(a) of the Act,
and pursuant to Section 17(d) of the Act and Rule 17d-1
permitting certain transactions. The
Applicants are Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc., Morgan Stanley
Investment Advisors Inc. and Van Kampen Asset Management (each, a MS Adviser
and collectively, the MS Advisers); the Funds listed in Schedule A to this
application, which are advised by the MS Advisers (the MS Funds); Morgan
Stanley & Co. Incorporated (MS & Co.) (or its affiliates,
together, the MS Trading Entity unless the context otherwise requires);
Citigroup Alternative Investments LLC (the Citi Adviser and, together with
the MS Advisers, the Advisers); LMP Corporate Loan Fund Inc. (the LMP Fund)
for which the Citi Adviser
9
currently acts as a sub-investment adviser; and Citigroup Global
Markets Inc. (CGMI), Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Citigroup Financial
Products Inc., Citibank, N.A., Citibank Canada or Citibank International plc as
relevant to the particular transaction (or their affiliates, together, the Citi
Trading Entity, unless the context otherwise requires, and, together with the
MS Trading Entity, the Trading Entities).
The Order sought
herein would permit the MS Funds to engage in the Securities Transactions
(defined below) with the Citi Trading Entity and would permit the LMP Fund to
engage in the Securities Transactions with the MS Trading Entity. The Securities Transactions that are the
subject of the requested order (the Order) include primary and secondary
market transactions in fixed-income securities on a principal basis (as
discussed below) between the MS Funds and the Citi Trading Entity and between
the LMP Fund and the MS Trading Entity.(1) Securities Transactions also
would include, and the Order also would permit, certain specified types of
transactions in which the Citi Trading Entity or the MS Trading Entity and the
MS Funds or the LMP Fund, respectively, might each participate jointly or have
a joint interest (sometimes referred to as Joint Transactions). The Order would apply only under
circumstances in which the Citi Trading Entity might be deemed an affiliated
person of an affiliated person (a second-tier affiliate) of a MS Fund (or the
MS Trading Entity deemed a second-tier affiliate of the LMP Fund) solely as a
result of the formation of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Holdings LLC (MSSB or
the Joint Venture), a joint venture to which each of Citigroup Inc. (Citigroup)
and Morgan Stanley, the parent company of the MS Advisers and MS Trading Entity
(Morgan Stanley), have contributed certain businesses. The Order requested herein is subject to
certain conditions, as more fully described below.
(1) Fixed-income securities for purposes of the Order include
loans and interests therein, as well as convertible bonds and convertible
preferred stock.
10
Applicants seek to
extend the Order requested to (i) any open-end or closed-end investment
company registered under the Act, whether now existing or organized in the
future, that is advised by any Adviser or by any existing or future investment
adviser controlling, controlled by or under common control with Morgan Stanley
or Citigroup other than MSSB(2) (such a fund, when advised by a Citigroup
entity, is hereafter referred to together with the LMP Fund as a Citi Fund
and, together with the MS Funds, the Funds), (ii) the Advisers and any
existing or future investment adviser controlling, controlled by or under
common control with Morgan Stanley or Citigroup other than MSSB and (iii) the
Trading Entities and any existing or future entity controlling, controlled by
or under common control with Citigroup or Morgan Stanley other than MSSB,
provided that any entity that relies on the Order complies with the terms and
conditions set forth in this Application as though it were an Applicant.
Applicants request
relief hereunder only for transactions that would be restricted by Sections 17(a) and
17(d) of the Act, and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, solely because of
Citigroups and Morgan Stanleys direct or indirect interest in MSSB. The relief sought hereunder will not apply
where a Trading Entity is an affiliated person or a second-tier affiliate of a
Fund for reasons other than such interest.
Additionally, the relief sought hereunder will not apply if the
transactions would be restricted by the above provisions because a Trading
Entity is a principal underwriter or promoter of a Fund. No fund advised or promoted by MSSB, or for
which MSSB acts as principal underwriter, would be covered by the Order.(3)
The proposed Order will not
(2) Pursuant to a Joint Venture Contribution and Formation Agreement
(the JV Agreement), Morgan Stanley contributed to the Joint Venture its
global wealth management (retail brokerage) and private wealth management
businesses, which businesses currently operate and will in the future operate
independent of the MS Advisers, as described herein. Citigroup contributed to the Joint Venture
its retail brokerage and futures business operated under the name Smith
Barney in the United States and Australia and operated under the name
Quilter in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Channel Islands.
(3) MSSB may act as principal underwriter for new closed-end MS or Citi
Funds. However, such role will cease at
the time the syndicate terminates and prior to any transactions by such Fund
involving the opposite Trading Entity.
11
apply to transactions between the MS Funds and any Morgan Stanley
controlled entity or to transactions between the Citi Funds and any Citigroup
controlled entity.(4)
II.
Description of the
Applicants
A.
The Funds
Each Fund is an
open-end or closed-end management investment company registered under the Act
and is organized as a statutory trust, business trust or corporation under the
laws of Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts or Pennsylvania.(5) The Funds
have a variety of investment objectives, but each may to a greater or lesser
degree invest a portion of its assets in fixed-income securities. (For the sake of simplicity, while there are
no Citi Funds currently other than the LMP Fund, this Application generally
will use the present tense for both the MS Funds and the Citi Funds.)
The fixed-income
securities in which the Funds may invest include, but are not limited to,
government securities, municipal securities, tender option bonds, taxable and
tax-exempt money market securities, repurchase agreements, asset- and
mortgage-backed securities, corporate issues and syndicated loans (including
assignments thereof and participations therein), each as the Funds respective
investment policies allow.
B.
The Advisers
The MS Advisers
are direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of Morgan Stanley, a Delaware
corporation. Morgan Stanley is a leading
global financial services firm whose business activities include securities
trading and brokerage activities, investment banking,
(4) Morgan Stanley presently has an exemptive order to, among other
things, permit its broker-dealer subsidiary, MS&Co. Incorporated, to engage
in principal transactions in taxable and tax-exempt money market instruments
with the Funds. Investment Company Act
Release No. 28150 (Feb. 13, 2008).
(5) The Van Kampen Exchange Fund is a
California limited partnership and is managed by a Board of General Partners.
12
research and analysis, financing and financial advisory services. Each MS Adviser is registered as an investment
adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the Advisers Act). The MS Advisers act as investment advisers to
each of the MS Funds and may supervise one or more affiliated or unaffiliated
sub-advisers with respect to certain MS Funds.
The Citi Adviser
is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Citigroup, a Delaware
corporation. Citigroup, a leading global
financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does
business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations,
governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and
services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment
banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. The Citi Adviser is registered as an
investment adviser under the Advisers Act.
The Citi Adviser acts as sub-investment adviser to the LMP Fund and may,
as noted above, act in the future as adviser to such registered investment
companies as may otherwise exist or are organized subsequently.
Each Fund and its
Adviser have entered into an investment management agreement pursuant to which
the Adviser is responsible for managing the Funds investment portfolio,
subject to the supervision of the Board of Directors, Board of Trustees or
other governing body of such Fund, as applicable (each, a Board), making
investment decisions on behalf of the Fund and placing its transactions.
Each of the MS
Advisers and the Citi Adviser have adopted confidentiality policies designed to
limit the unnecessary flow of information about client holdings and
transactions. Such policies have been
extended to prevent unnecessary information sharing between MSSB and each of
the MS Advisers and the Citi Adviser.
For example, the MS Advisers and the Citi Adviser have each adopted
policies designed to keep information about client holdings and
13
transactions on a confidential basis, prior to any public
disclosure. Pursuant to these policies,
information regarding investment advisory and portfolio execution matters
relating to the MS Funds and the Citi Fund are considered by the MS Advisers
and the Citi Adviser, respectively, as information that may not be communicated
outside of such Adviser except as necessary (
e.g.
,
to a potential executing broker or dealer on an actual trade), including to
MSSB. In general, prior to any public
disclosure and consistent with an Advisers fiduciary duty to the Fund,
information concerning Fund portfolio holdings is considered confidential and
may only be shared by a Funds Adviser for a legitimate business purpose with
certain types of parties and then, upon prior approval by the Funds board or
by a committee set up to evaluate such circumstances. Additionally, information barriers are in
place to prevent the dissemination of confidential information between
affiliates, such as between the MS Advisers and other MS Entities (as defined
below) or between the Citi Adviser and other Citi Entities (as defined below),
respectively.
C.
The Trading Entities
MS & Co.,
a Delaware corporation, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. CGMI, a New York corporation, is an indirect
wholly-owned subsidiary of Citigroup.
Each Trading Entity is registered as a broker-dealer with the Commission
pursuant to Section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Each conducts a diversified, full service
securities business, including (but not limited to) as a dealer and underwriter
for fixed-income securities, and each is a primary dealer in U.S. government
securities. As described below, each of
MS & Co. and CGMI are leading dealers and underwriters in respect of a
variety of fixed-income securities.
Citibank, N.A., Citibank Canada, Citibank International plc, Citigroup
Global Markets Limited and Citigroup Financial Products Inc. are each
wholly-owned subsidiaries of Citigroup (directly
14
or indirectly) and are each, among other things, leading originators
of, or participants in, syndicated loans and/or participants in the secondary
markets for such loans.
III.
The Joint Venture
On January 13,
2009, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup entered into a joint venture contribution
and formation agreement (the JV Agreement) to create MSSB, a Delaware limited
liability company of which the equity capitalization will consist solely of one
class of common membership interests (the Interests).(6) MSSB is a
holding company and the sole member of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, which
will conduct most of the Joint Ventures domestic operations as a
dual-registered broker-dealer and investment adviser. On June 1, 2009, the Joint Venture
closed in accordance with the terms of the JV Agreement.
A.
Ownership of the Joint Venture
Pursuant to the
terms of the JV Agreement, Morgan Stanley has contributed into the Joint
Venture the businesses of its global wealth management (retail brokerage) and
private wealth management businesses (the MS Contributed Businesses)
(together with all contracts, employees, property licenses and other assets and
liabilities). Citigroup has contributed
into the Joint Venture its businesses Smith Barney, Quilter and Smith Barney
Australia (the Citi Contributed Businesses and, collectively with the MS
Contributed Businesses, the Contributed Businesses) (together with all
contracts, employees, property licenses and other assets and liabilities).
Morgan Stanley now
owns indirectly through subsidiaries 51% of the Interests, and Citigroup owns,
indirectly through CGMI 49% of the Interests.
In addition, under the JV
(6) The JV Agreement is included with Morgan Stanleys filing on Form
8-K dated January 13, 2009.
15
Agreement, Morgan Stanley has the option to purchase an additional 14%
of the Interests following the third anniversary of the closing, an additional
15% of the Interests after the fourth anniversary, and any remaining Interests
held by Citigroup after the fifth anniversary.
B.
The Contributed Businesses
No parent or any
business unit of any Adviser will be a Contributed Business. No Fund is advised by a Contributed Business.
Formerly, Smith
Barney was a division of CGMI and Quilter was operated through several separate
legal entities under the control of Citigroup.
Currently, the Citi Contributed Businesses form part of MSSB, operating
separately from CGMI and any other Citigroup entity. Prior to the closing of the Joint Venture,
Morgan Stanleys global wealth management businesses formed part of MS &
Co. Such businesses are currently, as
part of MSSB, operated separately from MS & Co., which remains an
investment bank and broker-dealer.
MSSB provides
retail brokerage and a variety of wealth management services, including as an
investment adviser, insurance broker, insurance agency and futures broker. MSSB conducts its own businesses, operating
separately from the non-MSSB business units of Citigroup and Morgan Stanley
(although they may perform certain functions, such as clearing, for MSSB for a
certain period of time following the closing of the Joint Venture). Citigroup and Morgan Stanley have preserved
their distinct brands and continue to offer independently a wide range of
financial services. Citigroup has no
interest in, and will not control (within the meaning of Section 2(a)(9) of
the Act) directly or indirectly, Morgan Stanley, the MS Advisers, or any other
Morgan Stanley entity that is not a MS Contributed Business (together with the
MS Advisers, the MS Entities). Morgan
Stanley has no interest in, and will not control (within the meaning of Section 2(a)(9) of
the Act) directly or indirectly, Citigroup, the Citi Adviser, or any
16
other Citigroup entity that is not a Citi Contributed Business
(together with the Citi Adviser, the Citi Entities).
C.
Governance of the Joint Venture
MSSB is governed
by a newly formed Board of Directors controlled by Morgan Stanley. Currently, the Board consists of four Morgan
Stanley designees and two Citigroup designees (as long as Citigroup owns 10% or
more of the Interests) and the president of MSSB. The Chairman of MSSB is the Co-President of
Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley designees
constitute a majority of each committee of the MSSB Board, which also includes
at least one Citigroup designee.(7)
All matters with
regard to MSSB generally will be determined by a majority vote of the MSSB
Board, although the Joint Venture also includes certain other specified
governance and approval rights. These
rights require the approval of Morgan Stanley and, for so long as Citigroup
owns at least 20% of MSSB, of Citigroup, with respect to certain specified
major decisions, including (but not limited to), generally: (i) any
merger, liquidation or sale of MSSB; (ii) any acquisition or disposition
of a business representing more than 20% of assets or revenues; (iii) related
party transactions other than those conducted (a) at arms length and (b) in
the ordinary course of business (Citigroup may dispute either (a) or (b));
(iv) issuance, repurchase or redemption of equity securities except in
certain circumstances; (v) removal or replacement of the president of MSSB
or certain other officers; (vi) entry into new business lines in certain
circumstances and (vii) certain bankruptcy and tax events. Approval of Citigroup is required for
amendment to the LLC Agreement, as long as Citigroup owns at least 20% of the
(7) Although no public offering of common shares of MSSB is
contemplated, in the event of such a public offering, (1) the MSSB Board will
include at least three independent directors, (2) Citigroup will have the right
to proportionate representation on the MSSB Board for so long as it owns at
least 20% of MSSB (and in any event, not less than one designee) and (3) Morgan
Stanley will be entitled to designate a majority of the MSSB Board.
17
Interests;
thereafter, Citigroups approval will be required only as to certain specified
matters. Citigroup also may put its
Interests to Morgan Stanley, in the event of a change of control of Morgan
Stanley or after the sixth anniversary of the closing of the Joint Venture
transaction if Morgan Stanley has exercised its first two call rights.
IV.
Separation Between the MS
Entities and the Citi Entities
Subsequent to the
closing of the Joint Venture, the Citi Trading Entity and the MS Advisers (and
the MS Trading Entity and the Citi Adviser) continue to operate as separate,
independent businesses. The Citi Trading
Entity and the MS Advisers (and the MS Trading Entity and the Citi Adviser)
continue to have separate ownership, their own separate officers and employees,
and each continues to be separately capitalized and each maintains its own
separate books and records and physically separate offices.(8) In
addition, the MS Advisers operate as distinct entities and independent profit
centers under the umbrella of Morgan Stanley.
Further, Morgan Stanley will not have any involvement with respect to
proposed transactions pursuant to the Order and will not attempt to influence
or control in any way the placing by the MS Funds or the MS Advisers of
orders. Furthermore, officers and
employees of the MS Advisers may not communicate confidential and non-public
investment-related information to Morgan Stanley employees outside of the MS
Advisers and their mutual fund service provider affiliates, except in
connection with a conflicts clearing process set up for that purpose. Such information barriers are designed to
control and prevent the dissemination of confidential and material nonpublic
information by employees who receive such nonpublic information during the
course of their
(8) No director, officer or employee of the MS Funds or the MS
Advisers also is or will be a director, officer or employee of the Citi Trading
Entity. No director, officer or employee
of the Citi Fund or the Citi Adviser also is or will be a director, officer or
employee of the MS Trading Entity. As
noted above, each of Citigroup and Morgan Stanley has the right to designate
members of the Board of Directors of MSSB. Currently, the Chairman of MSSB is
the Co-President of Morgan Stanley.
18
employment. Similarly, the Citi
Adviser operates as a distinct entity and independent profit center and also
employs information barriers to prevent the dissemination of confidential and
nonpublic information outside the Citi Adviser.
The Funds and
their investors are also protected from any undue influence, among other
things, by the substantial separation and independent operation of the Trading
Entities from each other and from MSSB.
Independent operation generally consists of separate profit centers,
separate capitalization, separate books and records and a separate compensation
system that does not reward employees based on (i) a factor that treats
the Funds differently than unaffiliated counterparties or (ii) the amount
of business done by the Citi Funds with the MS Trading Entity (in the case of
Citigroup) or the MS Funds with the Citi Trading Entity (in the case of Morgan
Stanley), except to the extent such business might affect indirectly the
profits or losses of the Advisers.(9) The Advisers will not cause the
Funds to engage in portfolio transactions with MSSB. Further, the information barriers described
above with respect the Advisers and their affiliates will prevent the exchange
of confidential information between the Advisers and MSSB.
In light of the
entity separation described above, the Applicants submit that neither the Citi
Trading Entity nor the MS Trading Entity will be in a position to cause any
Securities Transaction by the MS Funds or the Citi Fund, respectively. That separation is in effect required to be
maintained for so long as the Order is relied upon by the Structural
Conditions described in Section X below.
Further, among other things, those conditions prohibit the Citi Trading
Entity or its affiliates from consulting with the MS Advisers regarding
potential transactions beyond the extent normally carried out with unaffiliated
parties in the normal course of business.
In addition, the Citi Trading Entity must adopt policies prohibiting it
from (i) linking approvals
(9) The MS Entities and MSSB are managed as separate
lines of business, though each entity ultimately reports to the same
individual(s) with respect to the Morgan Stanley side.
19
regarding MSSB to actions by a MS Adviser or MS Fund, or (ii) using
MSSB to seek business with the MS Advisers or MS Funds, nor will Citigroup
adopt any compensation scheme that treats such business differently from
business with unaffiliated partners. Similar
conditions of course also address the actions of the MS Trading Entity
vis-à-vis the Citi Adviser and the Citi Fund.
Moreover, there is not, and will not be, any express or implied
understanding between the Citi Trading Entity and Morgan Stanley or any MS
Adviser that a MS Adviser will cause a MS Fund to enter into Securities
Transactions or give preference to the Citi Trading Entity in effecting such
transactions between the MS Fund and the Citi Trading Entity. Similarly, there is not, and will not be, any
express or implied understanding between the MS Trading Entity and Citigroup or
any Citi Adviser that a Citi Adviser will cause a Citi Fund to enter into
Securities Transactions or give preference to the MS Trading Entity in
effecting such transactions between the Citi Fund and the MS Trading Entity.
All decisions by
the Funds to enter into portfolio transactions are determined solely by their
respective Advisers in accordance with the investment objectives of the
Fund. In that regard, trade execution
for the Funds is the responsibility of one or more individuals employed solely
by their respective Advisers and the Advisers will continue to adhere to a best
execution standard. Portfolio managers
employed by MS Advisers will have no affiliation (within the meaning of the
Act) with the Citi Trading Entity, and their lines of reporting responsibility
will be solely within the MS Advisers.
Portfolio managers employed by Citi Adviser will have no affiliation (within
the meaning of the Act) with the MS Trading Entity, and their lines of
reporting responsibility will be solely within the Citi Adviser. Prior to any purchase or sale decision, the
portfolio manager at an Adviser will independently evaluate any research
provided by broker-dealers, including unaffiliated broker-dealers, and other
analysts and determine his or
20
her own recommendations. In
addition, a major determinant of the compensation of a portfolio manager at any
Adviser is the performance of the Fund or Funds for which he or she has
responsibility. In no instance would his
or her compensation be affected by the amount of business done by Funds he or
she manages with the Citi Trading Entity or the MS Trading Entity,
respectively.
In summary,
notwithstanding the formation of MSSB, the MS Advisers will continue to operate
independently of the Citi Trading Entity in performing portfolio management
services for the MS Funds, and the Citi Trading Entity will not have any
influence over those services. The Citi
Adviser will continue to operate independently of the MS Trading Entity in
performing portfolio management services for the Citi Funds, and the MS Trading
Entity will not have any influence over those services.
V.
Consolidation in the
Financial Services Industry
A.
The Impact of Consolidation
Significant
consolidation has occurred in the banking and investment banking
(broker-dealer) industries, blurring the line between the two industries
(referred to herein, collectively, as the financial services industry) both
conceptually and in practice. A 1995
paper published by the Brookings Institution reported that from 1979 to 1994,
the banking industry was transformed by the massive reduction in the number of
banking organizations; the significant increase in the number of failures; the
dramatic rise in off-balance sheet activities; the major expansion in lending
to U.S. corporations by foreign banks; . . . and the opening up of interstate
banking markets.(10) Nearly a decade later, an article in the FDIC
Banking Review asserted that [o]ver
(10) Allen N. Berger,
et al.
,
The Transformation of the U.S. Banking Industry: What a Long, Strange
Trip Its Been
, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 2, 127 (1995).
21
the two decades 1984-2003, the structure of the U.S. banking industry
indeed underwent an almost unprecedented transformationone marked by a
substantial decline in the number of commercial banks and savings institutions
and by a growing concentration of industry assets among a few dozen extremely
large financial institutions.(11)
Indeed, consolidation in the financial services industry continued from
2003, accelerating during the credit crisis that began in 2007.
Consolidation in
the financial services industry, combined with an increase in industry assets,
has resulted in a few major broker-dealers accounting for a large percentage of
the market share in connection with trading in various asset classes.(12) In March 2008, The Bear Stearns
Companies, Inc., the U.S.s fifth largest investment bank, was acquired by
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JP Morgan).
In September of that year, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (Lehman
Brothers) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and Merrill Lynch &
Co. was acquired by Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America), reducing
the number of major pure investment banks (broker-dealers) to two, The
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (Goldman Sachs) and Morgan Stanley. These companies subsequently registered as
bank holding companies. In the fourth
quarter of 2008, Wachovia Corporation was acquired by former competitor Wells
Fargo & Company, and Barclays Bank, PLC (Barclays) agreed to
purchase certain core capital markets businesses of Lehman Brothers.
(11) Kenneth D. Jones and Tim Critchfield,
Consolidation
in the U.S. Banking Industry: Is the
Long, Strange Trip About to End?
, 17 FDIC Banking Review 4, 31
(2005).
(12) For example, mergers prior
to 2008 involving the following companies reduced the number of firms dealing
in money market instruments and other asset classes: Bank of America and FleetBoston; Wachovia and
First Union; Deutsche Bank and Scudder Investments; Wachovia and Prudential
Securities; J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank One; and Bank of New York and
Mellon Financial Corporation.
22
B.
Consolidation has Increased the
Applicants Need for Relief
The aforementioned
companies, including Citigroup, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank
of America and Barclays all ranked in the top ten managing underwriters of U.S.
municipal new issues, global debt, global asset-backed securities and global
high yield debt in 2008.(13) These
companies are important institutions involved in secondary market trading. The decline in the number of broker-dealers
and banks trading in the securities in which the Funds seek to invest and
increasing importance of the few remaining institutions has increased the
importance to the Funds of their relationships with such entities, including
the Citi Trading Entity or the MS Trading Entity, as applicable. The number of broker-dealers with which the
MS Funds and the Citi Funds may engage in trades is further reduced due to the
MS Funds first-tier affiliation with Morgan Stanley broker-dealers and the
Citi Funds first-tier affiliation with Citigroup broker-dealers and bank,
respectively, as the MS Funds are already generally precluded from trading with
the MS Trading Entity(14) and the Citi Funds are already generally precluded
from trading with the Citi Trading Entity.
Such preclusion from trading with a major broker-dealer in a wide
variety of securities already puts the Funds and their Advisers at a
disadvantage as compared to funds not subject to such restrictions when seeking
to obtain competitive pricing and achieve best execution. The few other dealers available to the Funds
may be less inclined to provide competitive pricing or more favorable terms
knowing that the Advisers choices of a dealer are limited.
(13) Citigroup, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Barclays
also ranked in the top ten managing underwriters of global and U.S.
mortgage-backed securities in 2008.
Thomson Reuters,
Debt Capital Markets
Review: Fourth Quarter 2008
;
Thomson Reuters,
US Municipals Review: Year End 2008
.
(14) Morgan Stanley does presently have an exemptive order to, among
other things, permit its broker-dealer subsidiary, MS&Co., to engage in
principal transactions in taxable and tax-exempt money market instruments with
the Funds. Investment Company Act
Release No. 28150 (Feb. 13, 2008).
23
Prohibiting the MS
Funds from engaging in Securities Transactions with the Citi Trading Entity (and
the Citi Funds from engaging in Securities Transactions with the MS Trading
Entity) would further reduce the opportunities available to the Funds to obtain
competitive pricing and best execution and to access the markets for particular
securities that are available from only a few dealers. Preventing the MS Funds from trading with the
Citi Trading Entity could materially limit the ability of the MS Funds to
obtain the pricing, terms and quality of service available from a major
dealer. That effect is compounded, as
noted above, by the MS Funds already existing inability to trade with the MS
Trading Entity which, especially in the aggregate, could affect the ability to
obtain best execution. Moreover, the
Citi Trading Entity has been and is expected to be an increasingly important
counterparty for the MS Funds because of the quality of execution provided,
particularly, market liquidity. Finally,
the rapid pace of consolidation in the financial services industry over the
past two years portends future consolidation which could even further increase
the need for the Funds to trade with the Trading Entities, as such Trading
Entities could be among the few remaining major financial institutions which
provide competitive pricing and high-quality service for the relevant
transactions.
VI.
The Securities
Transactions
A.
The Securities Transactions
Generally
The Funds have a
variety of investment objectives, but each may to a greater or lesser degree
invest a portion of its assets in fixed-income securities. The secondary market for fixed-income
securities is typically a dealer market in which trades are effected on a
principal basis. New issues of
fixed-income securities are typically offered in underwritten or private
placement transactions. The MS Funds
engage extensively, and are expected in the future (if the Order is granted) to
engage extensively, in transactions that involve the Citi Trading Entity. The LMP
24
Fund engages in syndicated loan transactions that involve the MS
Trading Entity and, as additional Citi Funds are organized, such funds are
expected (if the Order is granted) to engage in a wide array of transactions
involving the MS Trading Entity. These
Securities Transactions include the following: (i) the purchase of
securities by an MS Fund or a Citi Fund in underwritten offerings in which the
Citi Trading Entity or the MS Trading Entity, as applicable, is a manager or
member of the underwriting syndicate, and where a MS Fund purchases underwritten
securities from the Citi Trading Entity, or a Citi Fund purchases underwritten
securities from the MS Trading Entity; (ii) the purchase by a MS Fund or a
Citi Fund of securities from, or the sales of securities to, the Citi Trading
Entity or the MS Trading Entity, respectively, in transactions in which the
Citi Trading Entity or the MS Trading Entity, respectively, is acting as a
principal; and (iii) participation in certain specific, and a myriad of
other types of, arrangements or transactions that the MS Funds presently
participate in with the Citi Trading Entity, or that a Citi Fund may
participate in with the MS Trading Entity.
These arrangements and transactions may include, for example, tender
option bond trust structures (TOBs), certain asset-backed or mortgage-backed
securitization structures, and loan syndicates.
If the Citi
Trading Entity were considered to be a second-tier affiliate of the MS Funds
(or the MS Trading Entity were considered to be a second-tier affiliate of the
Citi Funds), a Securities Transaction would potentially violate one or more of Section 17(a) or
Section 17(d) of the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder. The inability of the MS Funds to execute
Securities Transactions involving the Citi Trading Entity and of the Citi Funds
to execute Securities Transactions involving the MS Trading Entity would impose
a hardship on the Funds by prohibiting the Funds continued use of a
broker-dealer the Funds had chosen to use prior to
25
there being any affiliation between Citigroup and Morgan Stanley (which
arises exclusively as a result of the Joint Venture) and by preventing the
Funds from purchasing or selling securities that the Funds would have purchased
or sold prior to that affiliation in transactions in which the Citi Trading
Entity or the MS Trading Entity, as applicable here, has some involvement.
B.
Joint Transactions
Applicants are
requesting an Order pursuant to Rule 17d-1 under the Act to the extent
necessary to permit the Citi Trading Entity to participate jointly with the MS
Funds (and the MS Trading Entity with the Citi Funds) in (i) TOBs
transactions involving municipal bonds, (ii) asset-backed or
mortgage-backed securities transactions, (iii) syndicated loan transactions,
and (iv) investments in the same company.
(i)
Tender Option Bond Trust
Structures
Each of the MS
Funds investing in long-term municipal bonds may engage, and/or has in the past
engaged, in transactions with the Citi Trading Entity involving tender option
bond trusts (TOBs). TOBs are
derivative securities that (as relevant here) are created by a fund placing
municipal bonds into a trust arrangement established by a dealer on behalf of
the fund. In exchange, each respective
fund receives cash and a residual interest security. In a typical TOBs transaction, the trust
funds the purchases of the municipal bonds by issuing securities (floaters)
which are purchased by third-party investors (often tax-exempt money market
funds) and which pay interest (generally quarterly or semi-annually) based on
interest rates that are typically reset weekly.
The floaters are remarketed typically on a weekly basis by a remarketing
agent, which receives a fee from the trust for such service. During that activity, the remarketing agent
may also own floaters for a brief period of time while the fund holds the
residual interest. In addition, the
remarketing agent, or a separate entity, which may or may not be affiliated
with the remarketing agent, also serves as the liquidity provider by committing
to hold a floater the
26
remarketing agent is unable to place with an investor until such time
as the floater can be placed or the trust is collapsed and the municipal bond
is delivered back into the fund or otherwise sold, events which can be
triggered by the liquidity provider under certain circumstances.(15) Where floaters are tendered back to the
liquidity provider, the liquidity provider would hold the floaters at the same
time the fund held the residual interest in the underlying bond. If the Citi Trading Entity establishes the
trust to which a MS Fund wishes to sell its long-term security and serves as
remarketing agent and/or liquidity provider, and the Fund holds the residual
interest in the underlying bond, such a transaction could be considered a joint
transaction and therefore subject to Section 17(d) and Rule 17d-1
thereunder. Situations could also arise
in which a Citi Trading Entity establishes a TOBs structure for itself or a
related party and holds the residual and a MS Fund (
e.g.
,
a tax-exempt money market fund) holds the floater. (Section 17(a) also may be involved
where, for example, a Citi Trading Entity, as liquidity provider, is to
purchase a floater held by such MS Fund.)
The above analysis would also apply to future TOBs transactions
involving the MS Trading Entity and a Citi Fund.
(ii)
Asset- and Mortgage-Backed
Securities
In a typical
asset-backed securities (ABS) or mortgage-backed securities (MBS) transaction,
a financial institution which sponsors the ABS or MBS sells a pool of loans
(which may have been originated by the sponsor or its affiliates) to a special
purpose entity, which in turn sells such loans to a trust. The trust issues interest-bearing notes or
pass-through certificates
(15) For example, a termination event may encompass a wide variety of
circumstances, certain of which may be objectively determined and certain of
which involve an element of subjectivity.
For example, such an event may include (i) the inability of the
remarketing agent to sell all or a specified percentage of the floating rate
securities after a specified amount of time has passed; (ii) a downgrade in the
rating of the underlying bond or the insurer of the bond; (iii) a determination
by the liquidity provider that financial condition of the issuer of the
underlying bond has deteriorated to an extent that is in the judgment of the
liquidity provider materially adverse to the trust; or (iv) certain changes in
laws or regulations that, in the judgment of the liquidity provider, may
increase its costs or reduce its returns.
In the event the liquidity provider determines to terminate the trust,
the liquidity provider will be required to make payments on the floating rate
securities.
27
(of which the sponsor or its affiliate may serve as underwriter) backed
by the trusts assets; the sponsor or its affiliate may retain an equity or
residual interest in the trust. The
assets continue to be serviced, and the income received from such assets is
used to make distributions to the holders of the ABS or MBS and the holder of
the residual interest.
The MS Funds, as
consistent with their investment policies, may enter into transactions
involving ABS or MBS, including those that are issued by special purpose
entities sponsored by the Citi Trading Entity (or an affiliate), and the Citi
Funds may do so with respect to ABS or MBS of entities sponsored by the MS
Trading Entity (or an affiliate), respectively, under circumstances in which
both (i) the residual interest in the special purpose entity is owned
directly or indirectly by the respective Trading Entity (or an affiliate) and (ii) the
respective Trading Entity (or an affiliate) acts as the servicer of assets.
Though Applicants
do not necessarily concede that such transactions fall under Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, such transactions could arguably fall
under those provisions due to the various roles played by the respective
Trading Entity (or an affiliate).(16)
The Applicants submit, however, that there is little opportunity or,
indeed, economic incentive to overreach a Fund when acting in those capacities. Nevertheless, the scenario is more complicated
than a straightforward purchase or sale of a third-party sponsored ABS or MBS
from the Trading Entity. Thus, to the
extent an independent check may be necessary, a Fund will only engage in ABS or
MBS transactions in which (i) the residual interest in the special purpose
entity sponsored by a Trading Entity is owned directly or indirectly by the
respective Trading Entity (or an affiliate) and (ii) the respective
Trading Entity (or an affiliate) acts as the servicer of assets, if, based on
relevant information that is reasonably available to the Funds Adviser, the
(16) The Applicants note that a Trading Entity (or its affiliate) may
act in other capacities with respect to an ABS or MBS vehicle. For example, the Trading Entity (or an
affiliate) might serve as custodian, trustee, hedging counterparty, paying
agent or administrator for the vehicle.
28
Adviser believes that, upon the close of the transaction, Funds (and
other discretionary advisory accounts) managed by the Adviser will purchase
less than 50% of the dollar amount of securities of each class acquired by the
Fund in the aggregate and the Fund participates in each such class on the same
terms as other purchasers of that class.
(iii)
Syndicated Loan Facilities
A Fund may also
participate as a member of a syndicated loan facility (
i.e.
,
as a lender to the borrower under the facility) in which a Trading Entity is
also (i) an agent with responsibility (either solely or with one or more
co-agents) for structuring, arranging, placing, or administering the loan
facility or for other functions related to the loan syndicate, (ii) a
syndicate member or (iii) both. As
such an agent, a Trading Entity might, among other things, negotiate with the
Fund over its initial participation in the syndicate or over its subsequent
approval of a waiver or other amendments to the loan facility requested by the
borrower. A Trading Entity would likely
receive fees from the borrower under the loan facility for acting as an agent,
which the Fund, as a non-agent member of the loan syndicate would not
receive. Similarly, where a Trading
Entity and a Fund took different actions as members of a loan syndicate (e.g.,
one approving a requested amendment and the other not) or committed to fund
different amounts of the loan, they might receive different levels of fees in
respect of the loan. Though Applicants
do not necessarily concede that all such syndicated loan transactions fall
under Section 17(d) of the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, such
transactions could arguably come within the scope of those provisions in light
of the fact that a Fund and a Trading Entity could have an interest in the same
loan facility.
As a condition to
the requested relief for syndicated loan facilities in which a Fund and a
Trading Entity participate and that may otherwise be prohibited by Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, (a) their participation would
involve no coordination between the
29
Trading Entity and the Fund beyond that of a type the Trading Entity
engages in with other unaffiliated participants in such facility, (b) the
terms of the Funds participation in the facility (to the extent within the
knowledge and control of the Trading Entity) would be on a basis no less
advantageous than that of other similarly situated participants (
i.e.
, the Fund will receive the same priority, security,
interest rate and fees as other participants in the same tranche or other
portion of the loan in which the Fund is a participant), except to the extent
such difference is related to services performed with respect to the facility
or their role in the facility and (c) in the case of the primary
syndication of a loan facility where the Trading Entity is lead agent with
primary responsibility for structuring, arranging or placing such facility, the
Fund will participate in the facility only where, based on relevant information
that is reasonably available to the Adviser, the Adviser believes that, upon conclusion
of allocations to holders of record in the primary syndication of the facility,
less than 50% of the participations will be held by Funds (and other
discretionary advisory accounts) managed by the Adviser.
(iv)
Investments in the Same Company
.
It is also possible that a Fund could make an investment in a company
(or other issuer) in which a Trading Entity also has invested. In such a situation, the Fund and the Trading
Entity might hold the same securities issued by the company or one could hold
securities of a different class or even a different type (e.g., debt vs.
equity) than the other. Again, while the
Applicants do not necessarily concede that all such situations fall under Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, some situations where a Fund and a
Trading Entity have invested in the same company could arguably come within the
scope of those provisions, given the fact that the Fund and the Trading Entity
would have an interest in the same company.
As a condition to
the requested relief for investments by a Fund and a Trading Entity in the same
company (or other issuer) that would otherwise be prohibited by Section 17(d) of
the
30
Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder (except in the case of syndicated
loan transactions, which, as discussed above, will be subject to a separate
condition), (a) the Funds and the Trading Entitys investment will
involve no coordination between the Trading Entity and the Fund beyond that of
a type the Trading Entity engages in with other unaffiliated investors in such
company and (b) the Fund will participate or invest in a type or class of
securities (
e.g.
, equity securities) of the company
only where, based on relevant information that is reasonably available to the
Adviser, the Adviser believes that, upon the close of the investment
transaction, less than 50% of the dollar amount of the securities of such type
or class will be owned by Funds (and other discretionary advisory accounts)
managed by the Adviser.
As for all
transactions pursuant to the Order, Joint Transactions would be subject to
procedures adopted by the Funds Board, including the majority of the Funds
disinterested directors or trustees, as applicable.
VII.
Relevant Provisions and
Relief Requested
A.
Relevant Provisions
(i)
Section 2(a)(3)
As a result of the
Joint Venture, the Citi Trading Entity would arguably become a second-tier
affiliate of the MS Funds (and the MS Trading Entity a second-tier affiliate of
the Citi Funds) within the meaning of Section 2(a)(3) of the
Act. Section 2(a)(3) of the
Act, in relevant part, defines affiliated person of another person as:
(A) any person directly or indirectly owning,
controlling, or holding with power to vote, 5 per centum or more of the
outstanding voting securities of such other person; (B) any person 5 per
centum or more of whose outstanding voting securities are directly or
indirectly owned by, controlled, or held with power to vote, by such person; (C) any
person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common
control with, such other person; (D) any officer, director,
31
partner, copartner, or employee of such other person; (E) if
such person is an investment company, any investment adviser thereof . . . .
If the MS Funds
are assumed to be under the control of the MS Advisers, and Morgan Stanley also
controls MSSB, then MSSB and the MS Funds are affiliated persons (first-tier
affiliates) by virtue of being under common control. The Citi Trading Entity could also be viewed
as a first-tier affiliate of MSSB, and a second-tier affiliate of the MS Funds,
because of CGMIs ownership of more than five percent of the voting securities
of MSSB, and, moreover, its control of MSSB.
The affiliation analysis would be generally the same with respect to the
Citi Funds and the MS Trading Entity. In
reaching the above conclusion, Applicants also assume that the presumption in Section 2(a)(9) of
the Act that ownership of greater than 25% of an entity constitutes control
cannot be rebutted on the facts of the present case.
(ii)
Section 17(a)
Section 17(a) of
the Act, among other things, prohibits an affiliated person of a registered
investment company, or any affiliated person of such a person, acting as
principal, from selling to or purchasing from such registered company any
security or other property and from borrowing money or other property from such
investment company.
The primary
purpose of Section 17(a) is to prevent a person with the power to
control an investment company from essentially engaging in self-dealing, to the
detriment of the investment companys shareholders.(17) In that regard, Section 1(b)(2) of
the Act declares that it is against the public interest and the interest of
investors when:
investment companies are organized, operated, managed,
or their portfolio securities are selected, in the interest of directors,
officers, investment advisers, depositors, or other affiliated persons thereof,
in the interest of underwriters, brokers, or dealers, in the interest of
special classes of their security holders, or in the interest of other
investment companies or persons engaged in other lines of
(17)
See
,
e.g.
,
S. Rep. No. 1775, 76
th
Cong. 3d Sess. 6 (1940).
32
business, rather than in the interest of all classes
of such companies security holders . . . .
When the person acting on behalf of an investment company has no direct
or indirect pecuniary interest in a party to a principal transaction, then the
abuse that Section 17(a) is designed to prevent is not present. The MS Funds and the Citi Funds propose to
engage in Securities Transactions with the Citi Trading Entity and the MS
Trading Entity, respectively, following closing of the Joint Venture, just as
they have previously. Applicants submit
that just as in previous transactions, as is discussed in section VIII below,
no risk of self-dealing would present itself in any Securities Transaction, as
the Citi Trading Entity and the MS Trading Entity will have no influence over
portfolio decisions by the MS Advisers and the Citi Adviser, respectively, and
the MS Advisers and the Citi Adviser would receive no unfair pecuniary
advantage from engaging in the Securities Transactions with the Citi Trading
Entity and the MS Trading Entity, respectively.
(iii)
Section 17(d)
Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder prohibit any affiliated person of or
principal underwriter for a registered investment company or any second-tier
affiliate, acting as principal, from effecting any transaction in connection
with any joint enterprise or other joint arrangement or profit sharing plan in
which the investment company participates, unless an application regarding the
joint transaction has been filed with the Commission and granted by order. Rule 17d-1 provides that, in passing
upon an application for such an order, the Commission will consider whether the
participation of a registered investment company in a joint transaction is
consistent with the provisions, policies and purposes of the Act and the extent
to which such participation is on a basis different from or less advantageous
than that of the other applicants.
33
Section 17(d),
and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, were intended to prohibit abuses arising from
conflicts of interest where rather than being on opposite sides of a
transaction, an investment company and its affiliates share some element of
combination in a transaction.(18) As
noted above and explained further below, the Applicants submit that in no event
will the Citi Trading Entity or the MS Trading Entity have the ability to
influence the decisions of the MS Advisers on behalf of the MS Funds or the
Citi Adviser on behalf of the Citi Funds, respectively. Moreover, participation by the MS Funds or
the Citi Funds in such transactions with the Citi Trading Entity or the MS
Trading Entity, respectively, would be on a basis similar to the Citi Trading
Entity or the MS Trading Entity, respectively, unless any difference is related
to the differing nature of their participation in the transaction.(19)
B.
Authority for the Order
Section 17(b) of
the Act permits any person to file an application for an order of the Commission
exempting a proposed transaction of the applicant from the provisions of Section 17(a). Such applications are to be granted by the
Commission if evidence establishes that:
(1) the terms of the proposed
transaction, including the consideration to be paid or received, are reasonable
and fair and do not involve overreaching on the part of any person concerned;
(2) the proposed transaction is
consistent with the policy of each registered investment company
concerned . . .; and
(3) the proposed transaction is
consistent with the general purposes of [the Act].
Section 6(c) of
the Act, in relevant part, authorizes the Commission to exempt any person or
transaction, or any class or classes of persons or transactions, from any
provision or provisions
(18)
SEC v. Talley Industries, Inc.
,
399 F.2d 396, 403 (2d Cir. 1968),
cert denied
,
393 U.S. 1015 (1969);
see also
,
Investment Company Act Release No. 17534 (June 15, 1990) (Sections 17(a) and
17(d) were designed to protect investment companies from self-dealing and
overreaching by insiders).
(19) For example, in a syndicated loans transaction, the participation
of various parties may differ where a party plays an additional role, such as
lead agent, in the transaction.
34
of the Act, if and to the extent that such exemption is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest and consistent with the protection of
investors and the purposes fairly intended by the policy and provision of the
Act. Relief is being requested pursuant
to Section 6(c), as well as Section 17(b) because, among other
things, the Order would cover certain classes of transactions.
Rule 17d-1
provides that, in passing upon an application for an order of the Commission
permitting a proposed joint venture or joint arrangement otherwise proscribed
by Section 17(d), the Commission will consider whether the participation
of a registered investment company in a joint venture or joint arrangement is
consistent with the provisions, policies and purposes of the Act and the extent
to which such participation is on a basis different from or less advantageous
than that of the other applicants.
C.
Relief Requested
Due to their
second-tier affiliation, any Securities Transaction by the MS Funds involving
the Citi Trading Entity, and by the Citi Fund involving the MS Trading Entity,
would be subject to Section 17(a) of the Act where it constitutes a
principal transaction between them, and for Joint Transactions, Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder.
The inability of
the MS Funds and the Citi Fund to execute Securities Transactions involving the
Citi Trading Entity and the MS Trading Entity, respectively (exclusively as a
result of Citigroups and Morgan Stanleys direct or indirect interest in MSSB)
would significantly limit the universe of securities broker-dealers and banks
available to the Funds, the universe of underwritings in which the Funds may
participate and the level and number of Securities Transactions in which the
Funds may engage.
In order to permit
the Funds to be managed as effectively as possible, Applicants seek relief from
the provisions of Sections 17(a) and an Order pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder.
Applicants request an Order, pursuant to Sections 6(c) and 17(b) of
35
the Act exempting Securities Transactions entered into in the ordinary
course of business by a MS Fund involving the Citi Trading Entity and by a Citi
Fund involving the MS Trading Entity under the circumstances described herein
from the provisions of Sections 17(a) of the Act, and pursuant to Rule 17d-1
under Section 17(d) of the Act permitting the Securities Transactions
described above. Applicants request
relief pursuant to Section 6(c) of the Act for transactions of the
classes described herein, including any future Securities Transaction, as such
term is defined in this Application. The
Order would apply only where the Citi Trading Entity is deemed to be a
second-tier affiliate of a MS Fund, and the MS Trading Entity is deemed to be a
second-tier affiliate of a Citi Fund, solely because of Citigroups and Morgan
Stanleys direct or indirect ownership interest in MSSB.
VIII.
Rationale for Relief
Applicants submit
that the policies which Sections 17(a) and 17(d) of the Act, and Rule 17d-1
thereunder, were meant to further are not implicated here because Citigroup and
the Citi Trading Entity are not in a position to cause a MS Fund to enter into
a Securities Transaction or otherwise influence portfolio decisions by the MS
Advisers on behalf of the MS Funds; and, similarly, Morgan Stanley and the MS
Trading Entity are not in a position to cause a Citi Fund to enter into a
Securities Transaction or otherwise influence portfolio decisions by the Citi
Adviser on behalf of the Citi Fund. As a
result, no Trading Entity is in a position to engage in self-dealing or
otherwise cause any of the relevant Funds to enter into transactions that are
not in the best interests of its shareholders.
In addition, there is an existing separation and information barrier
between the MS Advisers and the MS Funds on the one hand and other units of
Morgan Stanley on the other (and between the Citi Adviser and the Citi Fund on
the one hand and other units of Citigroup on the other).
36
Moreover,
Applicants submit that the circumstances under which the Securities
Transactions would be conducted, including in particular the proposed
conditions for the Order, satisfy the statutory standards for relief. The proposed conditions will be of two
general types, and are reflected in the proposed conditions for the Order. The Applicants refer to the first type of
conditions as structural, and they are intended to assure that the MS
Advisers and the MS Funds continue to operate independently of, and free of any
undue influence by, Citigroup and the Citi Trading Entity and similarly, that
the Citi Adviser and the Citi Funds continue to operate independently of, and
free of any undue influence by, Morgan Stanley and the MS Trading Entity.
The Applicants
refer to the second type of conditions as transactional conditions. Those conditions are designed to assure that
the terms of the individual transactions are fair from the perspective of the
Funds. At the outset, the conditions
require each Funds Board, including a majority of its disinterested directors
or trustees, as applicable, to approve procedures governing all Securities
Transactions pursuant to the Order.
Pursuant to such procedures, among other things, the Securities
Transactions will be subject to ongoing review by each Funds Chief Compliance
Officer and reported to its board, including a majority of the disinterested
directors/trustees, on a quarterly basis.
The report will indicate that the conditions of the Order have been
satisfied and, to the extent there have been any changes in the volume, type or
terms of such transactions, a determination by the Funds Adviser, as reviewed
and approved by the Funds Chief Compliance Officer that legitimate reasons
exist for such change. Further, the
Advisers adhere to a best execution standard, determining in the case of each
Securities Transaction that such transaction is consistent with the investment
objectives of the Funds and in the best interests of the Funds
shareholders. The conditions also
require price quotes from
37
unaffiliated sources to assure fairness of price. Particular types of transactions, including
possible joint transactions, will be subject to additional controls, as
described in Section X(B), in order to ensure that such transactions are
not entered into on terms disadvantageous to the Funds.
(i)
The Securities Transactions are
Reasonable and Fair and Do Not Involve the Risk of Overreaching
The independence
of the Citi Trading Entity from the MS Advisers and all MS Entities and of the
MS Trading Entity from the Citi Adviser and all Citi Entities demonstrates that
no risk of overreaching or self-dealing by the Citi Trading Entity or the MS
Trading Entity would be present if the MS Funds and the Citi Trading Entity or
the Citi Fund and the MS Trading Entity engaged in Securities
Transactions. Citigroup and Morgan
Stanley operate and, after the Joint Venture will continue to operate,
independently. The MS Trading Entity
will operate independently of the Citi Adviser and all Citi Entities. The Citi Adviser will operate independently
of the MS Trading Entity and all MS Entities.
The MS Advisers will operate independently of the Citi Trading Entity
and all Citi Entities. The Citi Trading
Entity will operate independently of the MS Adviser and all MS Entities. Similarly, as relevant to this Application,
the Citi Entities and the MS Entities will each operate separately from
MSSB. As a condition to the relief
requested by this Application, none of Citigroup, the Citi Trading Entity or
MSSB will control (within the meaning of Section 2(a)(9) of the Act),
directly or indirectly, the MS Advisers or the MS Funds. Similarly, none of Morgan Stanley, the MS
Trading Entity or MSSB will control (within the meaning of Section 2(a)(9) of
the Act), directly or indirectly, the Citi Adviser or the Citi Funds. Further, there is not, and will not be, any
express or implied understanding between Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, the
Trading Entities or any Adviser that the Adviser will cause a Fund to enter
into Securities Transactions or give preference to a Trading Entity in
effecting such transactions between the Fund and the Trading Entity.
38
The Joint Venture
will not effect any substantial change in the personnel or operations of the
Advisers. The Citi Trading Entity and
the MS Advisers, and the MS Trading Entity and the Citi Adviser, respectively,
have and will have their own separate officers and employees, each has been and
will continue to be separately capitalized and each has maintained and will
maintain its own separate books and records and physically separate
offices. Similarly, the MS Advisers
operate as distinct entities and independent profit centers under the umbrella
of Morgan Stanley. Thus, the Advisers
will have no economic incentive to place orders with an opposing Trading Entity
unless it is in a Funds best interests to do so. In sum, the formation of MSSB will not affect
the operations of the Advisers or influence the decisions of the Advisers on
behalf of the Funds to engage in Securities Transactions with the Trading
Entities.
If an MS Adviser
or a Citi Adviser were to purchase securities on behalf of a MS Fund or a Citi
Fund, respectively, in a transaction involving the Citi Trading Entity or the
MS Trading Entity, respectively, the benefits afforded the Trading Entities by
engaging in such transactions would differ from, and would not be shared by,
the Advisers. That is, the Adviser
benefits from a transaction only where such transaction is beneficial to the
Fund (by increasing the assets under management by the Adviser and therefore,
the Advisers fee, and by positively affecting the Advisers performance
record). Further, personnel of the MS
Advisers and the Citi Adviser will be compensated based on the performance of
the MS Funds and the Citi Fund, respectively, managed by them and profitability
of the MS Advisers and the Citi Adviser will not be affected in any way by the
profitability of the Citi Trading Entity and the MS Trading Entity,
respectively.
39
(ii)
The Funds
Participation in Joint Transactions Will Be on a Basis No Less Advantageous
Than That of Similarly Situated Trading Entities
The complete separation of the MS Advisers from the Citi Trading Entity
and the Citi Adviser from the MS Trading Entity, and the inability of the
Trading Entities to influence the Advisers prevents each party in a Joint
Transaction from obtaining an unfair advantage.
In addition, the entity separation and the information barriers in place
between the Advisers and the Trading Entities assures that no Adviser will have
an economic incentive to trade with an opposing Trading Entity unless it is in
the best interest of a Fund. Moreover,
for any Joint Transaction effected pursuant to the Order, the Applicants will
follow procedures, described in further detail in section X below, designed to
ensure the fairness of such transactions.
For example, in a Joint Transaction involving ABS or MBS that are newly
issued by special purpose entities sponsored by the Citi Trading Entity (or an
affiliate) or the MS Trading Entity (or an affiliate), respectively, under
circumstances in which both (i) the residual interest in the special
purpose entity is owned directly or indirectly by the respective Trading Entity
(or an affiliate) and (ii) the Trading Entity (or an affiliate) acts as
the servicer of assets, a Fund will purchase such ABS or MBS only where Funds
(and other discretionary advisory accounts) managed by the Adviser purchase
less than 50% of the dollar amount of securities of each class acquired by the
Fund, and the Fund participates in each such class on the same terms as other
purchasers of that class. Such a
condition will reflect the arms-length nature of the terms upon which the Fund
will participate. In addition, the power
of the Trading Entity to collapse the trust in a transaction involving TOBs
would be limited to the occurrence of certain events.(20)
With respect to investments in a company or syndicated
loan facility in which a Fund and a Trading Entity participate in a manner that
may be prohibited by Section 17(d) of the Act, the
(20)
See
note 15,
supra.
40
terms of the Funds investment or participation, respectively, will
involve no coordination between the Trading Entity and the Fund beyond that of
a type the Trading Entity engages in with other unaffiliated investors in the
company or participants in the facility, respectively. With respect to participation in a syndicated
loan facility, the terms of the Funds participation in the facility (to the
extent within the knowledge and control of the Trading Entity) will be on a
basis no less advantageous than that of other similarly situated participants (
i.e.
, the Fund will receive the same priority, security,
interest rate and fees as other participants in the same tranche or other
portion of the loan in which the Fund is a participant), except to the extent
such difference is related to services performed with respect to the facility
or their role in the facility; (21) and in the case of the primary syndication
of a loan facility where the Trading Entity is lead agent with primary
responsibility for structuring, arranging or placing such facility, the Fund
will participate in the facility only where, based on relevant information that
is reasonably available to the Adviser, the Adviser believes that, upon
conclusion of allocations to holders of record in the primary syndication of
the facility, less than 50% of the participations will be held by Funds (and other
discretionary advisory accounts) managed by the Adviser. With respect to investments in the same
company (other than syndicated loan transactions), the Fund will invest in a
type or class of securities (
e.g.
, equity
securities) of the company only where, based on relevant information that is
reasonably available to the Adviser, the Adviser believes that, upon the close
of the investment transaction, less than 50% of the dollar amount of the
securities of such type or class will be owned by Funds (and other
discretionary advisory accounts) managed by the Adviser.
(21)
See, e.g.,
note 19,
supra.
41
(iii)
The Order Would be Appropriate in the
Public Interest and Consistent with the Policies of the Funds
Prohibiting the MS
Funds from engaging in Securities Transactions involving the Citi Trading
Entity (and the Citi Funds with the MS Trading Entity) can harm the interests
of the shareholders of the Funds by preventing the Adviser from investing in a
way which is most beneficial to the shareholders, policies which Sections 17(a) and
17(d) of the Act were meant to further.
Given that the Securities Transactions do not involve the threat of
overreaching, it would be contrary to the interests of the Funds shareholders
to prohibit them.
The Trading
Entities typically are leading broker-dealers (or banks) in transactions
involving a wide variety of asset classes, including the types of securities in
which the Funds seek to invest. Further,
consolidation in the financial services industry has led funds and their
advisers to rely increasingly on a smaller number of institutions for reliable
information and access to the securities markets. Permitting the Securities Transactions that
would be prohibited or restricted by Section 17 of the Act would enlarge
the universe of securities dealers with which the Funds may transact, making it
easier for the Funds to achieve better terms and to provide their portfolios
with greater diversification and liquidity.
Prohibiting the Securities Transactions would significantly narrow this
universe and potentially impair the ability to diversify and to achieve better
terms or best price and execution, resulting in potential harm to shareholders
of the Funds. Finally, as noted earlier,
each of the Funds may engage in transactions in fixed-income securities and,
consequently, granting the Order would further the policies of the Funds.
(iv)
The Securities Transactions Are
Consistent With the Purposes of the Act and the Protection of Investors
As noted above,
the independence of the businesses of Morgan Stanley and Citigroup generally
will provide protection to investors, and transactions will be conducted on
essentially the same arms-length basis as existed prior to the closing of the
Joint Venture. Moreover, the
42
Advisers and the Funds will adopt and monitor procedures designed to
ensure that the terms of particular Securities Transactions involving the
relevant Trading Entities are fair and reasonable and do not involve
overreaching. For example, before a Fund
and a Trading Entity enter into any principal transaction, the Adviser will
obtain competitive quotations for the same securities (or in the case of
securities for which quotations for the same securities are not available,
competitive quotations for Comparable Securities)(22) from at least two other
unaffiliated dealers that are in a position to quote favorable prices. For each such Securities Transaction, the
Adviser will determine, based upon the information reasonably available to the
Fund and the Adviser and deemed relevant by it, that the price available from
the Trading Entity is at least as favorable as that available from other
sources. In addition, each Funds Board,
including a majority of its disinterested Directors/Trustees, will approve
procedures governing all Securities Transactions, including principal
transactions between the applicable Trading Entity and the Funds. Similarly, in a TOBs transaction, the
relevant Funds Board will adopt procedures designed to assure that such
transaction is in the best interests of the Fund, taking into consideration
aspects unique to such arrangement.
IX.
Precedent
Applicants submit
that the policy considerations that supported the Commissions grant of relief
from Section 17(a) of the Act and permitting certain transactions
pursuant to Section 17(d) of the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder
in
Keeper Holdings, LLC, et al.
(
Keeper
), Investment Company Act Release Nos. 25145 (August 29,
2001) (Notice) and 25171 (Sept. 25, 2001) (Order), are particularly relevant to
Applicants request for relief. In
Keeper
, as discussed
(22) The term Comparable Securities refers to securities with
substantially identical maturities, credit ratings and repayment terms as the
securities to be purchased or sold.
43
further below, the Commission required few conditions for the relief
sought, presumably because it determined that the risks of self-dealing and
overreaching that Section 17 is designed to prevent were sufficiently
de minimis
in covered transactions between two entities
which were second-tier affiliates solely by virtue of a joint venture between
the parent company of each such entity.
Of the relevant exemptive orders,
Keeper
is the
most structurally similar to Applicants situation. Applicants note that
Keeper
contained far fewer and less burdensome conditions than
American
Century
(described below); however, Applicants have included in
section X below conditions based on
American Century
(and certain other precedent) to establish fully the basis for exemption due to
the nature and scope of the Joint Venture.
In contrast, the Joint Venture in
Keeper
provided
primarily recordkeeping and administrative services to retirement plans and
health and welfare benefit plans, and, to a lesser extent, provided investment
advisory, broker-dealer and outsourcing services to such plans.
Applicants also
refer the Commission to the order granted in
American
Century Companies, Inc., et al.
(
American
Century
), Investment Company Act Release Nos. 25449 (March 1,
2002) (Notice) and 25501 (March 27, 2002) (Order). In
American Century
,
in effect, the Commission determined that the risks of self-dealing and
overreaching that Section 17 is designed to prevent were mitigated
sufficiently in transactions between certain funds and certain broker-dealer
entities, where the funds and the broker-dealer entities were second-tier
affiliates solely by virtue of the interest of the parent company of the
broker-dealer entities in the parent company of the funds advisers.
The applicants in
Keeper
and
American Century
were
able to avoid self-dealing and overreaching in large part due to the separation
maintained between each entity desiring to engage in the relevant transactions
and the implementation of procedures designed to prevent
44
conflicts of interest.
Similarly, as addressed above, the MS Advisers will operate independent
of the Citi Trading Entity, and the Citi Adviser of the MS Trading Entity, and
Applicants have proposed conditions for relief that will ensure ample
separation, prevent self-dealing and overreaching and avoid conflicts of
interest. In addition, the affiliation
between the broker-dealer entities and the advisers in
American
Century
was more direct than the second-tier affiliation between MS
Funds and MS Advisers and the Citi Trading Entity (and the Citi Fund and Citi
Adviser and the MS Trading Entity) created by the closing of the Joint
Venture. In
American
Century
, the parent of the broker-dealer entities held a 45%
economic interest (approximately 8.7% of the voting interests) in the parent of
the advisers, which parent was controlled by the Stowers family. By contrast, the affiliation between the MS
Funds, the MS Advisers and the Citi Trading Entity (and the Citi Funds, the
Citi Adviser and the MS Trading Entity) will result solely from the interests
of CGMI, and the parent of the MS Advisers, Morgan Stanley, in an independently
operated entity, the Joint Venture. The
Citi Trading Entity will have no interest in Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley
will have no interest in the Citi Trading Entity. Thus, while
American
Century
required board approval for each joint transaction involving
material negotiation between the relevant parties, Applicants submit that such
a requirement in this case would place an unfair burden on a Funds Board given
the breadth of transactions in which the Funds are expected to engage, and,
moreover, is unnecessary given the other conditions imposed on the Funds, the
Advisers and the Trading Entities in order to prevent the Funds and their
Advisers from engaging in any trades as a result of an incentive based on the
existence of the Joint Venture.
In addition to
Keeper
and
American Century
,
for reasons discussed above relating to the underlying purpose of Section 17(a)
and the absence of the potential for self-dealing, Applicants
45
submit that the policy considerations that supported the Commissions
issuances of other orders granting relief from Section 17(a) apply equally
here, including:
Morgan
Stanley Investment Management Inc., et al.
, Investment Company Act
Release Nos. 28125 (Jan. 18, 2008) (Notice) and 28150 (Feb. 13, 2008)
(Order);
Lehman Brothers Asset Management LLC, et al.
,
Investment Company Act Release Nos. 27920 (Aug. 1, 2007) (Notice) and
27957 (Aug. 28, 2007) (Order);
J.P. Morgan Investment Management
Inc., et al.
, Investment Company Act Release Nos. 26446 (May 10,
2004) (Notice) and 26466 (June 8, 2004) (Order);
J.P. Morgan
Fleming Asset Management (USA), Inc., et al.
, Investment
Company Act Release Nos. 25574 (May 15, 2002) (Notice) and 25608 (June 11,
2002) (Order);
Goldman Sachs Trust, et al.
,
Investment Company Act Release Nos. 24834 (Jan. 23, 2001) and 24877 (Feb. 21,
2001) (Order); and
MONY Life Insurance
Company, et al.
, Investment Company Act Release Nos. 24073 (October 5,
1999) (Notice) and 24120 (November 2, 1999) (Order). Applicants note that the Commission has
granted relief in the above orders for transactions between both second- and
first-tier affiliates. While Applicants
recognize that the conditions in such orders may be more strict in certain
respects, the affiliation between the parties was also more direct. By contrast, Applicants request relief to
engage in Securities Transactions between second-tier affiliates only.
For reasons
discussed above relating to the underlying purpose of Section 17(d) and
the absence of the potential for self-dealing, Applicants submit that the
policy considerations that supported the Commissions issuances of the
Keeper
and
American Century
orders granting relief from Section 17(d) also apply here.
See also
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, et al.
(
MassMutual
), Investment Company Act Release Nos. 24557 (July 13,
2000) (Notice) and 24595 (August 8, 2000) (Order), permitting
coinvestments by certain registered and unregistered funds and their investment
advisers. Applicants note that
MassMutual
contained
46
more conditions than in this Application, however, the affiliation in
that situation was more direct than the second-tier affiliations involved here.
X.
Applicants Conditions
Applicants agree
that the Order granting the requested relief will be subject to the following
conditions:
A.
Structural
(1)
Citigroup will control none of the MS
Advisers or the MS Funds or any principal underwriter for the MS Funds,(23)
directly or indirectly, within the meaning of Section 2(a)(9) of the
Act. The Order will remain in effect
only so long as Morgan Stanley, or such other entity not controlling,
controlled by or under common control with Citigroup, primarily controls the MS
Advisers.
(2)
Morgan Stanley will control none of the
Citi Adviser or the Citi Funds or any principal underwriter for the Citi
Funds,(24) directly or indirectly, within the meaning of Section 2(a)(9) of
the Act. The Order will remain in effect
only so long as Citigroup, or such other entity not controlling, controlled by
or under common control with Morgan Stanley, primarily controls the Citi
Adviser.
(3)
Citigroup will not directly or indirectly
consult with Morgan Stanley, the MS Advisers or any portfolio manager of the MS
Advisers concerning securities purchases or sales or the selection of a broker
or dealer for any securities transaction placed or to be placed on behalf of a
MS Fund, or otherwise seek to
(23) Other than with respect to certain newly organized closed-end
funds, described
supra
at note 3.
(24) Other than with respect to certain newly organized closed-end
funds, described
supra
at note 3.
47
influence the
choice of broker or dealer for any securities transaction by a MS Fund other
than in the normal course of sales activities of the same nature that are being
carried out during the same time period with respect to unaffiliated
institutional clients of the Citi Trading Entity, or that existed between the
Citi Trading Entity and the MS Advisers prior to consummation of the Joint
Venture.
(4)
Morgan Stanley will not directly or
indirectly consult with Citigroup, the Citi Adviser or any portfolio manager of
the Citi Adviser concerning securities purchases or sales or the selection of a
broker or dealer for any securities transaction placed or to be placed on
behalf of a Citi Fund, or otherwise seek to influence the choice of broker or
dealer for any securities transaction by a Citi Fund other than in the normal
course of sales activities of the same nature that are being carried out during
the same time period with respect to unaffiliated institutional clients of the
MS Trading Entity, or that existed between the MS Trading Entity and the Citi
Adviser prior to consummation of the Joint Venture.
(5)
No officer, director or employee of MSSB
will seek to influence in any way the terms of any Securities Transaction
covered by the Order. The MS Advisers
and the Citi Trading Entity will operate as separate organizations, with
separate capitalization, separate books and records, separate officers and
employees, and physically separate offices. The Citi Trading Entity will
adopt policies that have the effect of prohibiting the Citi Trading Entity from
(i) linking any approval or action relating to MSSB to any action by any
MS Fund or by any MS Adviser relating to any MS Fund or (ii) using the
existence of MSSB as a basis for seeking to persuade any MS Fund or MS Adviser
to engage in business with the Citi
48
Trading
Entity. The MS Advisers have adopted
policies designed to keep information about client holdings and transactions on
a confidential basis, prior to any public disclosure. Pursuant to these policies, the MS Advisers
will designate information regarding investment advisory and portfolio
execution matters relating to the MS Funds as information that may not be communicated
between MSSB, on one hand, and the MS Advisers, on the other hand, prior to any
public disclosure.
(6)
The Citi Adviser and the MS Trading
Entity will operate as separate organizations, with separate capitalization,
separate books and records, separate officers and employees, and physically
separate offices. The MS Trading Entity
will adopt policies that have the effect of prohibiting the MS Trading Entity
from (i) linking any approval or action relating to MSSB to any action by
any Citi Fund or by any Citi Adviser relating to any Citi Fund or (ii) using
the existence of MSSB as a basis for seeking to persuade any Citi Fund or Citi
Adviser to engage in business with the MS Trading Entity. The Citi Adviser has adopted policies
designed to keep information about client holdings and transactions on a
confidential basis, prior to any public disclosure. Pursuant to these policies, the Citi Adviser
will designate information regarding investment advisory and portfolio
execution matters relating to the Citi Funds as information that may not be
communicated between MSSB, on the one hand, and the Citi Adviser, on the other
hand, prior to any public disclosure.
(7)
Citigroup will not adopt any compensation
scheme any component of which is based on (i) a factor that treats the MS
Funds differently than unaffiliated
49
counterparties or (ii) the amount of business done by the Citi Funds
with the MS Trading Entity except to the extent such business might affect
indirectly the profits or losses of the Citi Adviser.
(8)
Morgan Stanley will not
adopt any compensation scheme any component of which is based on (i) a
factor that treats the Citi Funds differently than unaffiliated counterparties
or (ii) the amount of business done by the MS Funds with the Citi Trading
Entity except to the extent such business might affect indirectly the profits
or losses of the MS Advisers.
(9)
The respective
legal/compliance departments of the MS Advisers and the Citi Trading Entity,
and of the Citi Adviser and the MS Trading Entity, will prepare guidelines for
their respective personnel to make certain that Securities Transactions
effected pursuant to the Order comply with its conditions, and that the
respective Advisers and Trading Entities maintain an arms-length
relationship. The respective compliance
departments of the Advisers and Trading Entities will monitor periodically the
activities of the Advisers and Trading Entities, respectively, to make certain
that the conditions to the Order are met.
B.
Transactional
With respect to each Securities Transaction entered into or effected
pursuant to the Order:
(1)
Each Funds Board, including
a majority of its disinterested directors/trustees (the Required Majority) or
their designee, shall approve procedures governing all transactions pursuant to
the Order and shall no less frequently than quarterly receive and review a
report of all such transactions. Such
report, which will be
50
prepared by the Funds Adviser, and reviewed and approved by the Funds
Chief Compliance Officer, will indicate for each transaction that the
conditions of the Order have been satisfied, and will include a discussion of
any significant changes in the volume, type or terms of transactions between
the relevant Fund and Trading Entity, and a determination by such Adviser, as
reviewed and approved by the Funds Chief Compliance Officer, as to whether
legitimate reasons exist for such changes.
(2)
For each transaction, the MS
Advisers will adhere to a best execution standard and will consider only the
interests of the MS Funds and will not take into account the impact of a MS
Funds investment decision on the Citi Trading Entity or its affiliates. For each transaction, the Citi Adviser will
adhere to a best execution standard and will consider only the interests of
the Citi Funds and will not take into account the impact of a Citi Funds
investment decision on the MS Trading Entity or its affiliates. Before entering into any such transaction,
the Adviser will determine that the transaction is consistent with the
investment objectives and policies of the Fund and is in the best interests of
the Fund and its shareholders.
(3)
Each Fund will (i) for
so long as the Order is relied upon, maintain and preserve in an easily
accessible place a written copy of the procedures and conditions (and any
modifications thereto) that are described herein, and (ii) maintain and
preserve for a period of not less than six years from the end of the fiscal
year in which any transaction in which the Funds Adviser knows that both a Trading
Entity and the Fund directly or indirectly have an interest occurs, the first
two
51
years in an easily accessible place, a written record of each such
transaction setting forth a description of the security purchased or sold by
the Fund, a description of the Trading Entitys interest or role in the
transaction, the terms of the transaction, and the information or materials
upon which the determination was made that each such transaction was made in accordance
with the procedures set forth above and conditions in this Application.
(4)
Except as otherwise provided
in 4(a) and 4(b) below, before any secondary market principal
transaction is entered into between a Fund and a Trading Entity, the Funds Adviser
must obtain a competitive quotation for the same securities (or in the case of
securities for which quotations for the same securities are not available, a
competitive quotation for Comparable Securities) from at least two unaffiliated
dealers that are in a position to quote favorable market prices. For each such transaction, the Adviser will
determine, based upon the quotation and such other relevant information as is
reasonably available to the Adviser, that the price available from the Trading
Entity is at least as favorable as that available from other sources.
(a)
With respect to each such
transaction involving repurchase agreements, a Fund will enter into such
agreements only where the Adviser has determined, based upon relevant
information reasonably available to the Adviser, that the income to be earned
from the repurchase agreement is at least equal to that available from other
sources. Before any repurchase
agreements are entered into pursuant to the exemption, the Fund or the Adviser
must obtain competitive quotations from at least two unaffiliated
52
dealers
with respect to repurchase agreements comparable to the type of repurchase
agreement involved, except that if quotations are unavailable from two such
dealers, only one other competitive quotation is required.
(b)
With respect to each such
transaction involving variable rate demand notes for which dealer quotes are
not ordinarily available, a Fund will only undertake purchases and sales where
the Adviser has determined, based on relevant information reasonably available
to the Adviser, that the income earned from the variable rate demand note is at
least equal to that of variable rate demand notes of comparable quality that
are available from other sources.
(5)
With respect to securities
offered in a primary market underwritten transaction, a Fund will undertake
such purchase from the Trading Entity only where the Adviser has determined,
based upon relevant information reasonably available to the Adviser, that the
securities were purchased at a price that is no more than the price paid by
each other purchaser of securities from the Trading Entity or other members of
the underwriting syndicate in that offering or in any concurrent offering of
the securities, and on the same terms as such other purchasers (except in the
case of an offering conducted under the laws of a country other than the United
States, for any rights to purchase that are required by law to be granted to
existing securities holders of the issuer).
53
(6)
In the case of an
arrangement regarding a tender option bond trust for which a Trading Entity
acts as a liquidity provider or remarketing agent and owns an interest (or may
own an interest as a result of such capacity):
(a)
where such
arrangement was structured prior to the closing of the Joint Venture, the terms
of such arrangement will not change after such closing without the approval of
the Required Majority of the Funds Board, based on a finding that it is in the
best interests of the Fund to continue such arrangement, as proposed to be
modified; provided that if the Trading Entity owns the residual interest and a
Fund owns the floating rate interest, such Board approval will not be required
if: (i) the Fund is eligible to
participate in any discretionary tender on the same basis as any similarly
situated holder of floating rate interests, (ii) the Fund must participate
in any mandatory tender on the same basis as each similarly situated holder and
(iii) less than 50% of the floating rate interests are owned by Funds (and
other discretionary accounts) managed by the Funds Adviser.
(b)
in the case of
such arrangements proposed to be structured after the closing of the Joint
Venture:
(i) the Required Majority of the Funds Board will adopt
procedures designed to assure that it is in the best interests of the Fund to
participate in any such arrangements.
Such procedures will take into consideration, among other things, the
terms of the arrangement, the nature of the respective interests in the trusts
that may be held by the Trading Entity and the Funds, and the
54
circumstances under which
the Trading Entity may cause termination of the trust and the transfer of the
underlying bonds back to the Fund; and
(ii) where a Trading Entity owns the
residual interest and a Fund owns a floating rate interest: (1) the Fund must be eligible to
participate in any discretionary tender on the same basis as any similarly
situated holder of floating rate interests, (2) the Fund must participate
in any mandatory tender on the same basis as each similarly situated holder and
(3) less than 50% of the floating rate interests must be owned by Funds
(and other discretionary accounts) managed by the Funds Adviser.
(c)
before any such
arrangements are entered into pursuant to the exemption, where the Fund holds
the residual interest, the Fund or the Adviser must obtain competitive
quotations from at least two unaffiliated institutions with respect to fees
charged by such institutions for acting as liquidity provider or remarketing
agent, except that if quotations are unavailable from two such institutions,
only one other competitive quotation is required. Any fees paid to the Trading Entity as
liquidity provider or remarketing agent will be no greater than the lowest of
such quotations, unless such difference is justified by a corresponding
difference in the nature of the services provided.
(7)
With respect to ABS or MBS
that are newly issued by special purpose entities sponsored by a Trading Entity
(or an affiliate) under circumstances in which both
55
the following are true: (i) the
residual interest in the special purpose entity is owned directly or indirectly
by the Trading Entity (or an affiliate), and (ii) the Trading Entity (or
an affiliate) acts as the servicer of assets, purchases of such securities will
be made by a Fund only where, based on relevant information that is reasonably
available to the Adviser, the Adviser believes that, upon the close of the
transaction, Funds (and other discretionary advisory accounts) managed by the
Adviser will purchase less than 50% of the dollar amount of securities of each
class acquired by the Fund in the aggregate, and the Fund participates in each
such class on the same terms as other purchasers of that class.
(8)
With respect to a syndicated
loan facility in which a Fund and a Trading Entity participate in a manner that
would otherwise be prohibited by Section 17(d) of the Act and Rule 17d-1
thereunder, (a) their participation will involve no coordination between
the Trading Entity and the Fund beyond that of a type the Trading Entity
engages in with other unaffiliated participants in such facility, (b) the
terms of the Funds participation in the facility (to the extent within the
knowledge and control of the Trading Entity) will be on a basis no less
advantageous than that of other similarly situated participants (
i.e.
, the Fund will receive the same priority, security,
interest rate and fees as other participants in the same tranche or other
portion of the loan in which the Fund is a participant), except to the extent
such difference is related to services performed with respect to the facility
or their role in the facility and (c) in the case of the primary
syndication of a loan facility where the Trading Entity is lead agent with
primary responsibility for structuring, arranging or placing such facility, the
Fund will participate in the facility only
56
where, based on relevant information that is reasonably available to
the Adviser, the Adviser believes that, upon conclusion of allocations to holders
of record in the primary syndication of the facility, less than 50% of the
participations will be held by Funds (and other discretionary advisory
accounts) managed by the Adviser.
(9)
With respect to situations
in which a Fund and a Trading Entity have invested in the same company and that
would otherwise be prohibited by Section 17(d) of the Act and Rule 17d-1
thereunder (other than a syndicated loan transaction, which is subject to
Transactional Condition (8) above), (a) the Funds and the Trading Entitys
investment will involve no coordination between the Trading Entity and the Fund
beyond that of a type the Trading Entity engages in with other unaffiliated
investors in such company and (b) the Fund will participate or invest in a
type or class of securities (
e.g.
, equity
securities) of the company only where, based on relevant information that is
reasonably available to the Adviser, the Adviser believes that, upon the close
of the investment transaction, less than 50% of the dollar amount of the securities
of such type or class will be owned by Funds (and other discretionary advisory
accounts) managed by the Adviser.
XI.
Conclusion
Applicants submit that the Securities
Transactions described in this Application satisfy the standards of Sections 6(c) and
17
(b) and Rule 17d-1. There is no danger of overreaching or
self-dealing by a Trading Entity in
connection with a Securities Transaction, and there will be no conflict of
interest associated with an Advisers decision to engage in a Securities Transaction
57
with a Trading Entity on behalf of a
Fund. Moreover, the Order is consistent
with the policies of the Funds and the protection of investors, as the Advisers
will manage the Funds in accordance with the policies and investment objectives
of the Funds absent any influence by the Trading Entities. Finally, permitting the Securities
Transactions will be appropriate in the public interest and consistent with
general purposes of the Act because the ability to engage in Securities
Transactions increases the likelihood of a Fund achieving best price and
execution in such transactions and results in none of the abuses that the Act
was designed to prevent.(25)
Based upon the foregoing, Applicants respectfully submit that it is
appropriate in the public interest and consistent with the protection of
investors and the purposes and policies underlying the Act to issue an Order
pursuant to Sections 6(c) and 17(b) of the Act exempting Securities
Transactions from the provisions of Section 17(a) of the Act and, in
the case of Joint Transactions, permitting such Securities Transactions
pursuant to Section 17(d) and Rule 17d-1 of the Act on the basis
also that the Funds participation is no less advantageous than the Trading
Entitys unless such difference is justified by services performed or role in
the transaction.
XII.
Procedural
Matters
Pursuant to Rule 0-2(f) under the Act, Applicants state that
written or oral communications regarding this Application should be directed to
the names and addresses indicated on the cover page of this Application.
The address of each Applicant is as follows: The principal offices of each of the MS Funds
are currently located at 522 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10036. The principal offices of each of the MS
Advisers are currently located at 522 Fifth Avenue, New York,
(25)
See
Section 1(b)(2) of
the Act,
supra.
58
New York 10036. The principal office of MS & Co. is
currently located at 1585 Broadway, New York, New York 10036. The principal office of LMP Corporate Loan
Fund Inc. is currently located at 55 Water Street, New York, New York
10041. The principal office of Citigroup
Alternative Investments LLC is located at 399 Park Avenue, New York, New York
10043. The principal office of CGMI is
located at 388 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10013. The principal office of Citibank, N.A. is
located at 399 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10043. The principal office of Citibank Canada is
located at 123 Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2M3. The principal office of Citibank
International plc is located at Citigroup Centre, Canada Square, Canary Wharf,
London E14 5LB. The principal office of
Citigroup Global Markets Limited is located at Citigroup Centre, Canada Square,
Canary Wharf, London E14 5LB. The
principal office of Citigroup Financial Products Inc. is located at 388
Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10013.
Applicants desire that the Commission issue the Order pursuant to Rule 0-5
under the Act without conducting a hearing.
All requirements of the charter documents of each Applicant have been
complied with in connection with the execution and filing of this
Application. Each person signing the Application
is fully authorized to do so. The
verifications on behalf of each Applicant required by Rule 0-2(d) are
attached hereto as Exhibits A-1 to A-13.
A statement of authorization with respect to the filing of this
Application by each Applicant and accompanying resolutions by each Funds Board
required by Rule 0-2(c)(1) are attached hereto as Exhibits B-1 to
B-2.
59
The parties have executed this Amended and Restated Application in one
or more counterparts.
|
Signed
on behalf of each of the funds listed in Schedule A
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Stefanie V. Chang Yu
|
|
Name:
|
Stefanie
V. Chang Yu
|
|
Title:
|
Vice
President
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MORGAN
STANLEY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Stefanie V. Chang Yu
|
|
Name:
|
Stefanie
V. Chang Yu
|
|
Title:
|
Managing
Director
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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MORGAN
STANLEY INVESTMENT ADVISORS INC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Stefanie V. Chang Yu
|
|
Name:
|
Stefanie
V. Chang Yu
|
|
Title:
|
Managing
Director
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
VAN
KAMPEN ASSET MANAGEMENT
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Stefanie V. Chang Yu
|
|
Name:
|
Stefanie
V. Chang Yu
|
|
Title:
|
Managing
Director
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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MORGAN
STANLEY & CO. INCORPORATED
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Roger Gilbert
|
|
Name:
|
Roger
Gilbert
|
|
Title:
|
Managing
Director
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60
|
LMP
CORPORATE LOAN FUND INC.
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|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Robert Frenkel
|
|
Name:
|
Robert
Frenkel
|
|
Title:
|
Secretary
and Chief Legal Officer
|
|
|
|
|
|
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CITIGROUP
ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS LLC
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Millie Kim
|
|
Name:
|
Millie
Kim
|
|
Title:
|
Secretary
|
|
|
|
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CITIGROUP
GLOBAL MARKETS INC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
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By:
|
/s/
Scott L. Flood
|
|
Name:
|
Scott
L. Flood
|
|
Title:
|
Co-General
Counsel
|
|
|
|
|
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CITIGROUP
GLOBAL MARKETS LIMITED
|
|
|
|
|
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|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
S J Cumming & N J Menditta
|
|
Name:
|
S
J Cumming & N J Menditta
|
|
Title:
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Delegated
Signatories
|
|
|
|
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CITIGROUP
FINANCIAL PRODUCTS INC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Scott L. Flood
|
|
Name:
|
Scott
L. Flood
|
|
Title:
|
Co-General
Counsel
|
61
|
CITIBANK,
N.A.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Scott L. Flood
|
|
Name:
|
Scott
L. Flood
|
|
Title:
|
Vice
President
|
|
|
|
|
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CITIBANK
CANADA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Charles Alexander
|
|
Name:
|
Charles
Alexander
|
|
Title:
|
General
Counsel
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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CITIBANK
INTERNATIONAL PLC
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date:
June 15, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Robert Stemmons
|
|
Name:
|
Robert
Stemmons
|
|
Title:
|
Delegated
Signatory
|
62
Schedule A
MORGAN STANLEY
RETAIL AND INSTITUTIONAL FUNDS
AS OF JUNE 15, 2009
RETAIL FUNDS
OPEN-END
RETAIL FUNDS
TAXABLE
MONEY MARKET FUNDS
Active
Assets Government Securities Trust
Active
Assets Institutional Government Securities Trust
Active
Assets Institutional Money Trust
Active
Assets Money Trust
Morgan
Stanley Liquid Asset Fund Inc.
Morgan
Stanley U.S. Government Money Market Trust
TAX-EXEMPT
MONEY MARKET FUNDS
Active
Assets California Tax-Free Trust
Active
Assets Tax-Free Trust
Morgan
Stanley California Tax-Free Daily Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley New York Municipal Money Market Trust
Morgan
Stanley Tax-Free Daily Income Trust
EQUITY
FUNDS
Morgan
Stanley Capital Opportunities Trust
Morgan
Stanley Dividend Growth Securities Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Equally-Weighted S&P 500 Fund
Morgan
Stanley European Equity Fund Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Focus Growth Fund
Morgan
Stanley Fundamental Value Fund
Morgan
Stanley Global Advantage Fund
Morgan
Stanley Global Dividend Growth Securities
Morgan
Stanley Global Infrastructure Fund
Morgan
Stanley Health Sciences Trust
Morgan
Stanley International Fund
Morgan
Stanley International Value Equity Fund
Morgan
Stanley Mid Cap Growth Fund
Morgan
Stanley Mid-Cap Value Fund
Morgan
Stanley Natural Resource Development Securities Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Pacific Growth Fund Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Real Estate Fund
63
Morgan
Stanley S&P 500 Index Fund
Morgan
Stanley Series Funds
·
Morgan Stanley Commodities Alpha Fund
·
Morgan Stanley Alternative Opportunities Fund
·
Morgan Stanley U.S. Multi-Cap Alpha Fund
Morgan
Stanley Small-Mid Special Value Fund
Morgan
Stanley Special Growth Fund
Morgan
Stanley Special Value Fund
Morgan
Stanley Technology Fund
Morgan
Stanley Value Fund
BALANCED
FUND
Morgan
Stanley Balanced Fund
ASSET
ALLOCATION FUND
Morgan
Stanley Strategist Fund
TAXABLE
FIXED-INCOME FUNDS
Morgan
Stanley Convertible Securities Trust
Morgan
Stanley Flexible Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley FX Series Funds
·
Morgan Stanley FX Alpha Plus Strategy
Portfolio
·
Morgan Stanley FX Alpha Strategy Portfolio
Morgan
Stanley High Yield Securities Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Limited Duration U.S. Government Trust
Morgan
Stanley Mortgage Securities Trust
Morgan
Stanley U.S. Government Securities Trust
TAX-EXEMPT
FIXED-INCOME FUNDS
Morgan
Stanley California Tax-Free Income Fund
Morgan
Stanley Limited Term Municipal Trust
Morgan
Stanley New York Tax-Free Income Fund
Morgan
Stanley Tax-Exempt Securities Trust
SPECIAL
PURPOSE FUNDS
Morgan
Stanley Select Dimensions Investment Series, on behalf of its series
·
Balanced Portfolio
·
Capital Growth Portfolio
·
Capital Opportunities Portfolio
·
Dividend Growth Portfolio
·
Equally-Weighted S&P 500 Portfolio
·
Flexible Income Portfolio
·
Focus Growth Portfolio
64
·
Global Infrastructure Portfolio
·
Mid Cap Growth Portfolio
·
Money Market Portfolio
Morgan
Stanley Variable Investment Series
·
Aggressive Equity Portfolio
·
Capital Opportunities Portfolio
·
Dividend Growth Portfolio
·
European Equity Portfolio
·
Global Dividend Growth Portfolio
·
Global Infrastructure Portfolio
·
High Yield Portfolio
·
Income Builder Portfolio
·
Income Plus Portfolio
·
Limited Duration Portfolio
·
Money Market Portfolio
·
S&P 500 Index Portfolio
·
Strategist Portfolio
CLOSED-END
RETAIL FUNDS
TAXABLE
FIXED-INCOME CLOSED-END FUNDS
Morgan
Stanley Income Securities Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Prime Income Trust
TAX-EXEMPT
FIXED-INCOME CLOSED-END FUNDS
Morgan
Stanley California Insured Municipal Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley California Quality Municipal Securities
Morgan
Stanley Insured California Municipal Securities
Morgan
Stanley Insured Municipal Bond Trust
Morgan
Stanley Insured Municipal Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley Insured Municipal Securities
Morgan
Stanley Insured Municipal Trust
Morgan
Stanley Municipal Income Opportunities Trust
Morgan
Stanley Municipal Income Opportunities Trust II
Morgan
Stanley Municipal Income Opportunities Trust III
Morgan
Stanley Municipal Premium Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley New York Quality Municipal Securities
Morgan
Stanley Quality Municipal Income Trust
Morgan
Stanley Quality Municipal Investment Trust
Morgan
Stanley Quality Municipal Securities
65
INSTITUTIONAL FUNDS
OPEN-END
INSTITUTIONAL FUNDS
Morgan
Stanley Institutional Fund, Inc., on behalf of its series
·
Active International Allocation Portfolio
·
Capital Growth Portfolio
·
Emerging Markets Debt Portfolio
·
Emerging Markets Portfolio
·
Focus Growth Portfolio
·
Global Franchise Portfolio
·
Global Real Estate Portfolio
·
Global Value Equity Portfolio
·
International Equity Portfolio
·
International Growth Equity Portfolio
·
International Real Estate Portfolio
·
International Small Cap Portfolio
·
Large Cap Relative Value Portfolio
·
Small Company Growth Portfolio
·
U.S. Real Estate Portfolio
·
U.S. Small/Mid Cap Value Portfolio
Morgan
Stanley Institutional Fund Trust, on behalf of its series
·
Advisory Portfolio
·
Advisory Portfolio II
·
Balanced Portfolio
·
Core Fixed Income Portfolio
·
Core Plus Fixed Income Portfolio
·
Intermediate Duration Portfolio
·
International Fixed Income Portfolio
·
Investment Grade Fixed Income Portfolio
·
Limited Duration Portfolio
·
Long Duration Fixed Income Portfolio
·
Mid Cap Growth Portfolio
·
Municipal Portfolio
·
U.S. Mid Cap Value Portfolio
·
U.S. Small Cap Value Portfolio
·
Value Portfolio
Morgan
Stanley Institutional Liquidity Funds, on behalf of its series
·
Government Portfolio
·
Money Market Portfolio
·
Prime Portfolio
·
Tax-Exempt Portfolio
·
Treasury Portfolio
·
Government Securities Portfolio
·
Treasury Securities Portfolio
The
Universal Institutional Funds, Inc., on behalf of its series
·
Core Plus Fixed Income Portfolio
66
·
Emerging Markets Debt Portfolio
·
Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio
·
Equity and Income Portfolio
·
Capital Growth Portfolio
·
Global Franchise Portfolio
·
Global Real Estate Portfolio
·
Global Value Equity Portfolio
·
High Yield Portfolio
·
International Growth Equity Portfolio
·
International Magnum Portfolio
·
Mid Cap Growth Portfolio
·
Small Company Growth Portfolio
·
U.S. Mid Cap Value Portfolio
·
U.S. Real Estate Portfolio
·
Value Portfolio
CLOSED-END
INSTITUTIONAL FUNDS
Morgan
Stanley Asia-Pacific Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley China A Share Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Eastern Europe Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Emerging Markets Debt Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Emerging Markets Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Frontier Emerging Markets Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley Global Opportunity Bond Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley High Yield Fund, Inc.
Morgan
Stanley India Investment Fund, Inc.
The
Latin American Discovery Fund, Inc.
The
Malaysia Fund, Inc.
The
Thai Fund, Inc.
The
Turkish Investment Fund, Inc.
67
VAN KAMPEN FUNDS
AS OF JUNE 15, 2009
OPEN-END
FUNDS
Van
Kampen Capital Growth Fund
Van
Kampen Comstock Fund
Van
Kampen Corporate Bond Fund
Van
Kampen Enterprise Fund
Van
Kampen Equity and Income Fund
Van
Kampen Equity Trust, on behalf of its series
·
Van Kampen Asset Allocation Conservative Fund
·
Van Kampen Asset Allocation Growth Fund
·
Van Kampen Asset Allocation Moderate Fund
·
Van Kampen Core Equity Fund
·
Van Kampen Global Growth Fund
·
Van Kampen Leaders Fund
·
Van Kampen Mid Cap Growth Fund
·
Van Kampen Small Cap Growth Fund
·
Van Kampen Small Cap Value Fund
·
Van Kampen Utility Fund
·
Van Kampen Value Opportunities Fund
Van
Kampen Equity Trust II, on behalf of its series
·
Van Kampen American Franchise Fund
·
Van Kampen Equity Premium Income Fund
·
Van Kampen International Growth Fund
·
Van Kampen International Advantage Fund
·
Van Kampen Technology Fund
·
Van Kampen Core Growth Fund
Van
Kampen Exchange Fund
Van
Kampen Government Securities Fund
Van
Kampen Growth and Income Fund
Van
Kampen Harbor Fund
Van
Kampen High Yield Fund
Van
Kampen Life Investment Trust, on behalf of its series
·
LIT Capital Growth Portfolio
·
LIT Comstock Portfolio
·
LIT Global Tactical Asset Allocation
Portfolio
·
LIT Government Portfolio
·
LIT Growth and Income Portfolio
·
LIT Mid Cap Growth Portfolio
·
LIT Money Market Portfolio
Van
Kampen Limited Duration Fund
Van
Kampen Money Market Fund
Van
Kampen Pennsylvania Tax Free Income Fund
Van
Kampen Real Estate Securities Fund
68
Van
Kampen Retirement Strategy Trust, on behalf of its series
·
Van Kampen 2010 Retirement Strategy Fund
·
Van Kampen 2015 Retirement Strategy Fund
·
Van Kampen 2020 Retirement Strategy Fund
·
Van Kampen 2025 Retirement Strategy Fund
·
Van Kampen 2030 Retirement Strategy Fund
·
Van Kampen 2035 Retirement Strategy Fund
·
Van Kampen 2040 Retirement Strategy Fund
·
Van Kampen 2045 Retirement Strategy Fund
·
Van Kampen 2050 Retirement Strategy Fund
·
Van Kampen In Retirement Strategy Fund
Van
Kampen Senior Loan Fund
Van
Kampen Series Fund, Inc., on behalf of its series
·
Van Kampen American Value Fund
·
Van Kampen Emerging Markets Fund
·
Van Kampen Equity Growth Fund
·
Van Kampen Global Equity Allocation Fund
·
Van Kampen Global Franchise Fund
·
Van Kampen Global Value Equity Fund
Van
Kampen Tax-Exempt Trust
Van
Kampen Tax Free Money Fund
Van
Kampen Tax Free Trust, on behalf of its series
·
Van Kampen California Insured Tax Free Fund
·
Van Kampen Insured Tax Free Income Fund
·
Van Kampen Intermediate Term Municipal Income
Fund
·
Van Kampen Municipal Income Fund
·
Van Kampen New York Tax Free Income Fund
·
Van Kampen Strategic Municipal Income Fund
Van
Kampen Trust
Van
Kampen Trust II, on behalf of its series
·
Van Kampen Global Bond Fund
·
Van Kampen Global Tactical Asset Allocation
Fund
Van
Kampen Partners Trust, on behalf of its series
·
Van Kampen OShaughnessy All Cap Core Fund
·
Van Kampen OShaughnessy Enhanced Dividend
Fund
·
Van Kampen OShaughnessy Global Fund
·
Van Kampen OShaughnessy International Fund
·
Van Kampen OShaughnessy Large Cap Growth
Fund
·
Van Kampen OShaughnessy Small/Mid Cap Growth
Fund
Van
Kampen U.S. Government Trust
CLOSED-END
FUNDS
Van
Kampen Advantage Municipal Income Trust II
Van
Kampen Bond Fund
Van
Kampen California Value Municipal Income Trust
Van
Kampen Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund
69
Van
Kampen High Income Trust II
Van
Kampen Massachusetts Value Municipal Income Trust
Van
Kampen Municipal Opportunity Trust
Van
Kampen Municipal Trust
Van
Kampen Ohio Quality Municipal Trust
Van
Kampen Pennsylvania Value Municipal Income Trust
Van
Kampen Select Sector Municipal Trust
Van
Kampen Senior Income Trust
Van
Kampen Trust for Insured Municipals
Van
Kampen Trust for Investment Grade Municipals
Van
Kampen Trust for Investment Grade New Jersey Municipals
Van
Kampen Trust for Investment Grade New York Municipals
70
Exhibit A-1
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
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)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
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)
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The undersigned states that she has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of each of the funds listed in Schedule A (each, a Fund); that she is
the Vice President of each Fund; and that all actions necessary to authorize
the undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been taken. The undersigned further says that she is
familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the facts
therein set forth are true to the best of her knowledge, information and
belief.
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By:
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/s/
Stefanie V. Chang Yu
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Name:
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Stefanie
V. Chang Yu
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71
Exhibit A-2
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
|
)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
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)
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The undersigned states that she has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. (the Company); that she
is Managing Director of the Company; and that all actions necessary to
authorize the undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been
taken. The undersigned further says that
she is familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the
facts therein set forth are true to the best of her knowledge, information and
belief.
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By:
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/s/
Stefanie V. Chang Yu
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Name:
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Stefanie
V. Chang Yu
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72
Exhibit A-3
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
|
)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
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)
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The undersigned states that she has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Morgan Stanley Investment Advisors Inc. (the Company); that she is
Managing Director of the Company; and that all actions necessary to authorize
the undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been taken. The undersigned further says that she is
familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the facts
therein set forth are true to the best of her knowledge, information and
belief.
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By:
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/s/
Stefanie V. Chang Yu
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Name:
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Stefanie
V. Chang Yu
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73
Exhibit A-4
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
|
)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
The undersigned states that she has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Van Kampen Asset Management (the Company); that she is Managing
Director of the Company; and that all actions necessary to authorize the
undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been taken. The undersigned further says that she is
familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the facts
therein set forth are true to the best of her knowledge, information and
belief.
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By:
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/s/
Stefanie V. Chang Yu
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Name:
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Stefanie
V. Chang Yu
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74
Exhibit A-5
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
|
)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
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)
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The undersigned states that he has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated (the Company); that he
is a Managing Director of the Company; and that all actions necessary to
authorize the undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been
taken. The undersigned further says that
he is familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the
facts therein set forth are true to the best of his knowledge, information and
belief.
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By:
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/s/
Roger Gilbert
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Name:
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Roger
Gilbert
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75
Exhibit A-6
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
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)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
The undersigned states that he has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of LMP Corporate Loan Fund Inc. (the Fund); that he is Secretary and
Chief Legal Officer of the Fund; and that all actions necessary to authorize
the undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been taken. The undersigned further says that he is
familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the facts
therein set forth are true to the best of his knowledge, information and
belief.
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By:
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/s/
Robert Frenkel
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Name:
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Robert
Frenkel
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76
Exhibit A-7
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
|
)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
|
)
|
The undersigned states that she has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Citigroup Alternative Investments LLC (the Company); that she is
Secretary of the Company; and that all actions necessary to authorize the
undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been taken. The undersigned further says that she is familiar
with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the facts therein set
forth are true to the best of her knowledge, information and belief.
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By:
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/s/
Millie Kim
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Name:
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Millie
Kim
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77
Exhibit A-8
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
|
)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
The undersigned states that he has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (the Company); that he is Co-General
Counsel of the Company; and that all actions necessary to authorize the
undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been taken. The undersigned further says that he is
familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the facts
therein set forth are true to the best of his knowledge, information and
belief.
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By:
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/s/
Scott L. Flood
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Name:
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Scott
L. Flood
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78
Exhibit A-9
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
|
)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
The undersigned state that they have duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Citigroup Global Markets Limited (the Company); that they are
Delegated Signatories of the Company; and that all actions necessary to
authorize the undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been
taken. The undersigned further say that
they are familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the
facts therein set forth are true to the best of their knowledge, information
and belief.
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By:
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/s/
S J Cumming & N J Menditta
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Name:
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S
J Cumming & N J Menditta
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79
Exhibit A-10
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
|
)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
The undersigned states that he has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Citigroup Financial Products Inc. (the Company); that he is
Co-General Counsel of the Company; and that all actions necessary to authorize
the undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been taken. The undersigned further says that he is
familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the facts therein
set forth are true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief.
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By:
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/s/
Scott L. Flood
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Name:
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Scott
L. Flood
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80
Exhibit A-11
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
|
)
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COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
The undersigned states that he has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Citibank, N.A. (the Company); that he is a Vice President of the
Company; and that all actions necessary to authorize the undersigned to execute
and file such instrument have been taken.
The undersigned further says that he is familiar with such instrument,
and the contents thereof, and that the facts therein set forth are true to the
best of his knowledge, information and
belief.
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By:
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/s/
Scott L. Flood
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Name:
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Scott
L. Flood
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81
Exhibit A-12
VERIFICATION
STATE
OF NEW YORK
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)
|
|
)
|
COUNTY
OF NEW YORK
|
)
|
The undersigned states that he has duly executed the attached amended and
restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and 17(e) of
the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Citibank Canada (the Company); that he is General Counsel &
Corporate Secretary of the Company; and that all actions necessary to authorize
the undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been taken. The undersigned further says that he is
familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the facts
therein set forth are true to the best of his knowledge, information and
belief.
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By:
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/s/
Charles Alexander
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Name:
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Charles
Alexander
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82
Exhibit A-13
VERIFICATION
The undersigned states that he has duly executed the attached amended
and restated application for an order pursuant to Sections 17(a) and
17(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act), and pursuant to Section 17(d) of
the Act and Rule 17d-1 thereunder, dated June 15, 2009, for and on
behalf of Citibank International plc (the Company); that he is Delegated
Signatory of the Company; and that all actions necessary to authorize the
undersigned to execute and file such instrument have been taken. The undersigned further says that he is
familiar with such instrument, and the contents thereof, and that the facts
therein set forth are true to the best of his knowledge, information and
belief.
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By:
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/s/
Robert Stemmons
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Name:
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Robert
Stemmons
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83
Exhibit B-1
OFFICERS CERTIFICATE
The undersigned, being duly elected Vice President of each fund listed
on Schedule A (each, a Fund), DOES HEREBY CERTIFY that the attached
resolutions were adopted by the Board of Directors or Trustees of such Fund at
a meeting duly held on April 17, 2009 with respect to the Van Kampen Funds
and on April 23, 2009 with respect to the Morgan Stanley Funds, and that
such resolutions have not been amended, modified or superseded in any way as of
the date of this Certificate.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand this 15
th
day of June, 2009.
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By:
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/s/
Stefanie V. Chang Yu
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Name:
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Stefanie
V. Chang Yu
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Title:
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Vice
President
|
84
The Funds Listed on
Schedule A
RESOLVED, that this Board hereby authorizes
the funds listed on Schedule A (the Funds) to file an application for an
order from the Securities and Exchange Commission to permit the Funds to engage
in securities transactions with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. or an affiliate
(collectively, the Citi Trading Entity), including (i) the purchase of
securities from, or the sales of securities to, the Citi Trading Entity in both
primary market (including underwritten) and secondary market transactions in
which the Citi Trading Entity is acting as a principal and (ii) participation
in arrangements or transactions that the Funds presently participate in with
the Citi Trading Entity, subject to such terms and conditions as are agreed to
by the Securities and Exchange Commission; and further
RESOLVED, that all officers of these Funds
are, and each hereby is, authorized from time to time to do, or cause to be
done, all such other acts and things, and to execute and deliver all such
instruments and documents, as each officer shall deem necessary or appropriate,
to carry out the purpose and intent of the foregoing resolution.
85
Exhibit B-2
OFFICERS CERTIFICATE
The undersigned, being duly elected Chief Legal Officer of LMP
Corporate Loan Fund Inc. (the Fund), DOES HEREBY CERTIFY that the attached
resolutions were adopted by the Board of Directors of the Fund at a meeting
duly held on April 23, 2009, and that such resolutions have not been
amended, modified or superseded in any way as of the date of this Certificate.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand this 15
th
day of June, 2009.
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By:
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/s/
Robert Frenkel
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|
Name:
|
Robert
Frenkel
|
|
Title:
|
Secretary
and Chief Legal Officer
|
86
LMP Corporate Loan Fund
Inc.
RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors of LMP
Corporate Loan Fund Inc. (the Fund) hereby authorize the filing of an
application for an order from the Securities and Exchange Commission to permit
the Fund to engage in securities transactions (including for this purpose,
loans and interests therein) with Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated or
an affiliate (collectively, the MS Trading Entity), including (i) the
purchase of securities from, or the sales of securities to, the MS Trading
Entity in both primary market (including underwritten) and secondary market
transactions in which the MS Trading Entity is acting as a principal and (ii) participation
in arrangements or transactions that the Fund presently participates in with
the MS Trading Entity, subject to such terms and conditions as are agreed to by
the Securities and Exchange Commission and which shall not be objectionable to
counsel to the Fund; and further
RESOLVED, that all officers of the Fund are, and
each hereby is, authorized from time to time in consultation with counsel to
the Fund to do, or cause to be done, all such other acts and things, and to
execute and deliver all such instruments and documents, as each officer shall
deem necessary or appropriate, to carry out the purpose and intent of the
foregoing resolution.
87
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