The Treasury Department is receiving a steep trading discount on its massive sale of Citigroup Inc. stock, but Morgan Stanley still stands to earn at least $24 million in trading commissions for managing the deal.
According to compensation terms between the Treasury and Morgan Stanley, the firm will earn 0.3 cent for every share it sells electronically, and 1.75 cents for every share it sells through other methods.
That's a steep discount from the 1 cent to 2 cents that brokers normally charge per share to trade electronically, and 3 cents to 4 cents for non-electronic trades.
Although the upper range of expected trading commissions Morgan Stanley could reap under the agreement could go as high as $135 million, the majority of the shares sold are expected to be traded electronically, bringing Morgan Stanley's expected commission closer to the lower end of the range at $24 million.
