This section describes the material risks relating to the securities. For further discussion of these and other risks, you should read the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the accompanying product supplement for principal at risk securities, index supplement and prospectus. We also urge you to consult your investment, legal, tax, accounting and other advisers in connection with your investment in the securities.
Risks Relating to an Investment in the Securities
■The securities do not guarantee the return of the face amount of your securities at maturity. The terms of the securities differ from those of ordinary debt securities in that they do not guarantee the return of the face amount of your securities at maturity. If the securities have not been automatically called and if the closing level of any underlying on the final calculation day is less than its respective downside threshold level of 75% of its starting level, you will be exposed to the decline in the value of the lowest performing underlying, as compared to its starting level, on a 1-to-1 basis, and you will receive for each security that you hold at maturity an amount equal to the face amount multiplied by the performance factor of the lowest performing underlying. In this case, you will lose more than 25%, and possibly all, of the face amount of your securities at maturity.
■The securities do not provide for the regular payment of interest. The terms of the securities differ from those of ordinary debt securities in that they do not provide for the regular payment of interest. Instead, the securities will pay a contingent coupon payment but only if the closing level of each underlying is at or above its respective coupon threshold level on the related calculation day. If the closing level of any underlying is lower than its coupon threshold level on the relevant calculation day for any interest period, we will pay no contingent coupon payment on the applicable contingent coupon payment date. It is possible that the closing level of any underlying will be less than its respective coupon threshold level for extended periods of time or even throughout the entire term of the securities so that you will receive few or no contingent coupon payments. If you do not earn sufficient contingent coupon payments over the term of the securities, the overall return on the securities may be less than the amount that would be paid on a conventional debt security of ours of comparable maturity.
■The contingent coupon payment, if any, is based on the value of each underlying on only the related monthly calculation day at the end of the related interest period. Whether the contingent coupon payment will be paid on any contingent coupon payment date will be determined at the end of the relevant interest period based on the closing level of each underlying on the relevant monthly calculation day. As a result, you will not know whether you will receive the contingent coupon payments on any contingent coupon payment date until near the end of the relevant interest period. Moreover, because the contingent coupon payment is based solely on the value of each underlying on the monthly calculation days, if the closing level of any underlying on any calculation day date is below the coupon threshold level for such underlying, you will not receive the contingent coupon payment for the related interest period, even if the level of such underlying was at or above its respective coupon threshold level on other days during that interest period, and even if the closing levels(s) of one or both of the other underlyings are at or above their respective coupon threshold level(s).
■Investors will not participate in any appreciation in any underlying. Investors will not participate in any appreciation in any underlying from the starting level for such underlying, and the return on the securities will be limited to the contingent coupon payments, if any, that are paid with respect to each calculation day on which the closing level of each underlying is greater than or equal to its respective coupon threshold level, if any.
■The market price will be influenced by many unpredictable factors. Several factors, many of which are beyond our control, will influence the value of the securities in the secondary market and the price at which MS & Co. may be willing to purchase or sell the securities in the secondary market. We expect that generally the level of interest rates available in the market and the value of each underlying on any day, including in relation to its respective starting level, coupon threshold level and downside threshold level, will affect the value of the securities more than any other factors. Other factors that may influence the value of the securities include:
othe volatility (frequency and magnitude of changes in value) of the underlyings,
owhether the closing level of any underlying has been below its respective coupon threshold level on any calculation day,
ogeopolitical conditions and economic, financial, political, regulatory or judicial events that affect the component stocks of the underlyings or securities markets generally and which may affect the value of each underlying,
odividend rates on the securities underlying the underlyings,
othe time remaining until the securities mature,
ointerest and yield rates in the market,
othe availability of comparable instruments,
othe composition of the underlyings and changes in the constituent stocks of such underlyings, and
oany actual or anticipated changes in our credit ratings or credit spreads.