(Reuters) - Archegos Capital Management is in talks with global banks to avoid a legal battle that would expose details of the deals that led to the family office's meltdown last year, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the matter.
The potential legal battle is focused on billions of dollars of swaps contracts agreed between the banks and Archegos, at a time when the practice of block trading has come under regulators' scanner in the United States. (https://on.ft.com/3Iy8mJr)
Last week, Bloomberg News reported Credit Suisse Group AG was trying to help the U.S. Department of Justice potentially build a case related to block trading against rivals Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Archegos collapsed in March last year after its highly leveraged stock bets went sour. The family office run by Bill Hwang defaulted on margin calls, triggering losses of up to $10 billion that sent shockwaves through Wall Street.
Archegos, Morgan Stanley and Nomura did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. UBS, MUFG and Credit Suisse declined to comment.
Mizuho is not involved in the prime brokerage business, a spokesperson for the bank said, offering no further comment. (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt and Manya Saini; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
Tue, March 1, 2022
