The Firm Behind The $30 Billion Firesale Shaking Financial Markets Disclosed Almost Nothing
Antoine Gara, 28 March 2021
Up until recently, the website of Archegos Capital Management, the firm behind a reported $30 billion financial firesale that is battering stocks worldwide, contained a giant image of Central Park. The vista displayed on Archegos’ webpage was a fitting homage to the views of its offices atop a Manhattan skyscraper on 57th street, until the site was taken down as the firm gets liquidated.
Archegos was a giant in U.S. financial markets, apparently holding tens of billions of dollars in securities, including massive exposures to companies like ViacomCBS, Discovery Communications and Baidu. It traded with Wall Street’s largest brokerages, and was headquartered at an expensive address housing many powerhouse investment firms. But when it came to routine financial disclosures, Archegos was virtually non-existent.
Forbes searched for a trace of Archegos on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s repository for securities filings, called EDGAR, short for Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval. Amazingly, almost nothing came up.
EDGAR is the sunlight in U.S. financial markets. Companies must disclose material information in filings uploaded to the site. Corporate insiders and large investment funds report their holdings and any changes to their positioning. Most all public capital raises are documented on EDGAR, and all sorts of entities reveal themselves on it. EDGAR is an informational treasure trove.
