Morgan Stanley Borrowed Almost $7 Billion From Discount Window

Now that for the first time Federal Reserve document have been forced to released as a result of a request based on the Freedom of Information Act, news has been trickling out of the amount of money borrowed from the discount window of the Federal Reserve, which Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) ended up borrowing about $6.9 billion in October 2008, according to the documents.

Morgan Stanley borrowed $3.63 billion via Morgan Stanley & Co. and $3.25 billion through its Morgan Stanley Bank N.A. subsidiary on Oct. 9, 2008 from the discount window.

On September 21, 2008, the Federal Reserve allowed Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley to morph into bank holding companies, which then granted them access to the inexpensive capital.

Adding to it prior released data, Morgan Stanley borrowed an enormous $110.7 billion in the week which ended on October 29, 2008, with remainder coming from the Primary Dealer Credit Facility ($61.3 billion) and the Term Securities Lending Facility ($39.2 billion).

Morgan Stanley closed Thursday at $27.32, up $0.09, or 0.33 percent.

BofA (BAC) Used Fed Discount Window More Than Admitted

Documents released Thursday revealed Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) used the discount window of the Federal Reserve more than they admitted to in the past.

After borrowing $500 million on August 22, 2007, the giant bank borrowed the same amount on the 23rd and 24th; two dates and amounts they hadn't admitted to. The August 22 amount and date had been communicated by the financial institution before.

Jerry Dubrowski, a spokesman for Bank of America, said, “We participated at the request of the Federal Reserve to help stabilize the global banking system in a period of unprecedented stress. At the time we were participating, we weren't experiencing liquidity issues.”

This is the first time since the formation of the Federal Reserve in 1914 that they had to reveal who used the discount window, as they were forced to release the documents after a Freedom of Information Act filing.

Bank of America closed Thursday at $13.33, falling $0.12, or 0.89 percent.