The Royal Bank of Scotland is close to abandoning the auction of its Direct Line and Churchill insurance empire after raising close to £6 billion from the markets. Coupled with the £1 billion sale of its 50% stake in Tesco Personal Finance and the disposal of Angel Trains, RBS’s finance state has improved.

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NEW YORK - Morgan Stanley announced today that it will repurchase at par auction rate securities (ARS) that are held by its retail accounts and were purchased through the Firm prior to February 13, 2008. Morgan Stanley has informed the appropriate authorities at the Office of the New York State Attorney General, the Office of the Secretary of State Illinois Securities Department (on behalf of the North American Securities Administrators Association), and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement with respect to these matters.

As part of our ongoing commitment to our clients, Morgan Stanley is announcing the following buy-back program:

Commencing no later than September 30, 2008, Morgan Stanley will offer to repurchase at par ARS held by all individuals, all charities and those small to medium sized businesses with accounts of $10 million or less (collectively, “retail clients”) that were purchased through the Firm prior to February 13, 2008, with the exception of those ARS where auctions are clearing or there is a scheduled redemption. The Firm will keep this offer open until November 30, 2008. The Firm anticipates that this buy-back program will result in repurchases from retail clients of approximately $4.5 billion.
Morgan Stanley will make whole any losses sustained by retail clients who purchased ARS through Morgan Stanley before Feb. 12, 2008, and sold such securities at a loss between that date and the date of this announcement.
Consistent with applicable regulatory rules, until Morgan Stanley actually provides for the liquidation of the securities on the schedule set forth above, on request, Morgan Stanley will provide no-cost loans to retail clients that will remain outstanding until the ARS are repurchased, and will reimburse retail clients for any interest costs incurred under any prior loan programs the Firm provided to its ARS customers.
To the extent that a retail client has incurred consequential damages beyond the loss of liquidity in the retail client’s holdings of ARS, Morgan Stanley will participate in a special arbitration process that the retail client may elect, and that will be overseen by FINRA, whereby Morgan Stanley will not contest liability for any alleged misrepresentations and omissions concerning the ARS, but may challenge the existence or amount of any consequential damages; the arbitration claim will be heard by a single, non-industry arbitrator.
Morgan Stanley will use its best efforts to provide liquidity solutions for its institutional investor base, including continuing to work with issuers and other interested parties on capital markets solutions, financing options and market liquidity, with the goal of resolving institutional investor clients’ liquidity concerns no later than the end of 2009. Institutional clients who purchased ARS after February 13, 2008, as well as institutional clients who hold ARS where the auctions are clearing will be excluded from the program.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 600 offices in 33 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

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The US Federal Reserve has auctioned $25billion in loans to banks in its latest bid to boost credit markets.

The results of Monday’s auction were revealed on Tuesday and showed the auction was oversubscribed with 64 bidders seeking $54.8bn from the bank.

This latest auction involved lending firms money for 84 days - rather than the 25 days of previous auctions.

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Extreme Networks Inc. has announced that it has planned to start a modified Dutch auction tender offer to buy $100 million of common stock at a price per share not less than $3.30 and not greater than $3.70. Extreme Networks intends to start the stock tender offer on August 11 2008.

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The State of Massachusetts sued Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. yesterday, charging the company with fraud over its sales of auction-rate securities, as the state widened its actions against Wall Street firms.

The case, brought by the state’s top securities regulator, William Galvin, charged Merrill with fraud and “dishonest and unethical” conduct for creating and implementing a sales and marketing scheme that authorities said significantly misstated the nature and stability of the auction-rate market.

As a result, thousands of investors were left with illiquid investments, the complaint said.

Galvin’s spokesman, Brian McNiff, said Merrill, UBS and Bank of America Corp. were subpoenaed earlier this year over their sales of auction-rate securities. The investigation against Bank of America is ongoing, Mr. McNiff said.

The complaint charged Merrill with arranging for its “supposedly independent” research department to write favourable reports on the market for the securities in order to “assist in sales efforts geared towards reducing its inventory of auction-rate securities.”

Merrill dispute the charges.

“We are disappointed that Massachusetts filed this action because it ignores the only reason our advisers sold auction rate securities - they believed they were good investments for clients willing to trade some liquidity for higher return,” spokesman Mark Herr said in an e-mailed statement.

“Our research reflected the honest belief that auction-rate securities offered higher returns in exchange for less liquidity and noted that market changes had begun to occur,” Mr. Herr said.

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Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE: FC) today announced that it has commenced its previously announced modified Dutch Auction tender offer for up to $28.0 million in value of shares of its common stock at a price within (and including) the range of $9.00 to $10.50 per share, which may allow up to 3,111,111 shares, or approximately 16 percent of the Company’s outstanding common stock, to be acquired through the tender offer. The midpoint of this range represents a premium of approximately 17 percent over Franklin Covey’s closing stock price of $8.35 on July 28, 2008, the last trading day preceding the commencement of the tender offer.

The tender offer will expire at 5:00 p.m. New York City time, on August 27, 2008, unless extended by Franklin Covey. Tenders of Franklin Covey common stock must be made prior to the expiration of the tender offer and may be withdrawn at any time prior to the expiration of the tender offer. The tender offer is subject to terms and conditions described in the Offer to Purchase filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and distributed to shareholders.

The Company intends to finance the tender offer primarily from the proceeds of the sale of its Consumer Solutions Business Unit, which closed July 7, 2008.

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BOSTON - MFS Investment Management® (MFS®) today announced the availability of information on the results of the weekly auctions for the week ending July 25, 2008, that determine the dividend rate payable on the auction rate preferred shares issued by the closed-end funds identified below. The data is posted online at www.mfs.com and can be accessed by clicking on “News & Commentary,” then “News Room,” then “Closed-End Funds Press Releases.” The information pertains to the following MFS closed-end funds:

MFS California Insured Municipal Fund (AMEX: CCA)

MFS High Income Municipal Trust (NYSE: CXE)

MFS High Yield Municipal Trust (NYSE: CMU)

MFS Investment Grade Municipal Trust (NYSE: CXH)

MFS Municipal Income Trust (NYSE: MFM)

MFS manages $184 billion in assets on behalf of more than 5 million individual and institutional investors worldwide as of March 31, 2008. The company traces its origins to 1924 and the creation of America’s first mutual fund.

The Trusts are closed-end investment companies. Common shares of the Trusts trade at the current market price, on the NYSE, except that the common shares of the MFS California Insured Municipal Fund, are traded only on the American Stock Exchange. Common shares may trade at a discount to NAV. The auction rate preferred shares of the Trusts are not listed for trading on any exchange and may only be traded in accordance with the by-laws of the applicable Trust.

MFS Fund Distributors Inc.

500 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02109

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Americas Watchdog is the largest private consumer group in the United States focused on Wall Street misdeeds, and it has been assisting victims of the $330 billion auction rate securities disaster for over five months. Since February 14th, Americas Watchdog has had a national investigation involving the banks and stock brokers involved in the auction rate securities fraud. The group is now warning ARPS. ARS or SLARS, victims,”they should not buy into Wall Street spins from everything will be ok, to a sales pitch from a law firm with no experience in securities lawsuits or securities arbitration, that wants a $25,000 retainer fee, or one third of the entire investment. Americas Watchdog, will not sit on our hands and watch people get taken twice, in what we consider to be the worst case of fraud in US history. This is more than a shot against everyone’s bow.”

Americas Watchdog is also warning US bankers and stock brokers to stop telling auction rate securities victims, that their student loan auction rate securities (SLARS) will be ok. According to Americas Watchdog, “if the US bank or stock brokerage firm is so confident the auction rate securities are such a great investment, have them e-mail that exact wording along with, I sold you a auction rate security because they were always just like cash, liquid and completely safe.” According to the group, “it will never happen”. Americas Watchdog says, “these are the same banks and stock brokers who advertise on TV business programs, with ads that say, we love you, and we will never let you down, because we care about you.”

“Americas Watchdog has consistently been saying auction rate securities victims are going to have to fight for their money through arbitration. We have said stay away from class actions unless a ARS/ARPS victim wants ten cents on the dollar. Victims should call us at 866-714-6466 for the names & phone numbers of real securities arbitration attorneys that not only know what they are doing, but they will be fair and honest with the victim.”

Americas Watchdog is also suggesting that all auction rate securities victims should call the Restricted Trading Network to find out what their auction rate securities are worth. The group is strongly suggesting that auction rate securities victims not take the phony loans being offered by some banks or stock brokers. The group says, “first why borrow your own money back from the thief, who stole it in the first place? And two, many of these loans have a margin feature & language that may preclude a victim from a lawsuit or securities arbitration in the future.”

The group sees additional serious US credit issues, and is telling auction rate securities victims to get off the fence, and forget about the SEC riding to the rescue. Americas watchdog says, “call us, we will tell you every thing we know, we will be 100% honest, and we will try to get you pointed in the right direction Especially victims with student loan auction rate securities (SLARS). But do not be a deer in the head lights waiting for this to get fixed. For most auction rate securities victims it will not get fixed, unless they want to work to get their money back.” Auction rate securities victims can call Americas Watchdog anytime at 866-714-6466 or visit their web site at http://ARSWatchdog.Com

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Stolichnaya makers of Russian vodka look set to become the centre of a multi-million-pound bidding war following Pernod Ricard’s takeover of Swedish maker Absolut.

Bacardi-Martin, Campari and Brown-Forman are being tipped as possible suitors, as Diageo has effectively ruled itself out after buying Ketel One.

Analysts say that vodka is the most dynamic global spirits category. Stolichnaya currently controls around 5% of the vodka sector in the United States, the world’s most important spirits market, where vodka consumption is growing by over 6% a year.

Despite Stolichnaya’s relatively modest market share it is growing at a faster rate thanks to its strong Russian heritage and premium positioning. The UK is Stolichnaya’s third biggest export market behind the US and Greece.

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Mexico’s peso weakened sharply on Friday after the central bank said it would suspend its daily dollar auctions, and stocks rose after unexpectedly strong U.S. consumer confidence and housing data.

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