Article: JP Morgan warns hedge funds to expect intraday margin calls

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JP Morgan warns hedge funds to expect intraday margin calls

Nell Mackenzie, 13 July 2021

JP Morgan is warning hedge fund clients that it will demand they post more cash at any time during the day if their trades lose value.

The biggest US bank by assets called clients of its prime brokerage division in the aftermath of the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, according to three people familiar with the matter. JP Morgan told the hedge funds and family offices that they would have to post more collateral on their single-name equity swap positions if they lost value intraday.

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Article: Is repo madness predicting a crack-up?

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Is repo madness predicting a crack-up?

Rick Ackerman, 21 June 2021

[The following was written by a San Francisco friend from the hedge fund world, Shawn Brown. It buttresses the suspicion that while there seems to be plenty of credit money available for speculation, the collateral behind it is getting thinner and shakier by the week. The Fed, with $8 trillion of Treasury paper and other top-shelf collateral on its balance sheet, has monopolized the supply, leaving lending banks to scramble for collateral for their own that hasn’t already been hocked twentyfold. As a result, central bank interventions are becoming more frequent, more complex and bigger, to the point where even the experts are having trouble determining whether the banking system is headed for a crack-up far larger than the one that took down Archegos a few months ago. RA] Continue reading “Article: Is repo madness predicting a crack-up?”

Article: Credit Suisse scandals prompt Switzerland to think unthinkable: punish bankers

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Credit Suisse scandals prompt Switzerland to think unthinkable: punish bankers

John O’Donnell and Brenna Neghaiwi, Reuters, 28 May 2021

Exasperation with Credit Suisse following a string of scandals is prompting Switzerland to rethink a system in which top bankers have been largely untouchable.

Credit Suisse’s heavy losses from the collapse of family office Archegos and the decimation of billions of client investments backed by insolvent British financier Greensill have angered regulators and triggered a rare discussion among lawmakers about fining bankers.

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Article: Fed Admonishes Deutsche Bank for Ongoing Compliance Failures

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Fed Admonishes Deutsche Bank for Ongoing Compliance Failures

Robert Schmidt and Jesse Hamilton, 29 May 2021

The Federal Reserve has privately told Deutsche Bank AG that its compliance programs aren’t up to snuff, signaling that the scandal-plagued bank is failing to adhere to a number of past accords with U.S. regulators, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Fed’s recent warning came in an annual regulatory assessment that said Deutsche Bank hadn’t improved its risk management practices despite being under confidential agreements with the central bank to fix the issues, the people said. The assessment letter has the German bank’s leaders bracing for potential sanctions, including the possibility of a large fine, said one person briefed on the matter. Continue reading “Article: Fed Admonishes Deutsche Bank for Ongoing Compliance Failures”

Article: Michael Burry Reveals Massive Tesla Short, Huge Inflationary Bet

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Michael Burry Reveals Massive Tesla Short, Huge Inflationary Bet

TYLER DURDEN, 17 May 2021

Today is the deadline for 13F filings and while we already know what most of the marquee hedge funds have done during the quarter thanks to previously leaked investor letters (with the notable exception of the Soros Family Office which we learned over the weekend bought some $375MM of the Archegos shares liquidated by its prime brokers in late March), one filing was of particular interest, that of Scion Asset Management’s Michael “Big Short” Burry. And boy were there surprises.

First, there is not even a trace of Burry’s previous interest in Gamestop or any other “Reddit” stocks: it’s safe to assume that all profits there were monetized long ago. In fact, a comparison to Burry’s Q4 2020 13F reveals huge turnover, with just 8 of the fund’s legacy 23 positions as of Dec 31 still on Scion’s Books. Continue reading “Article: Michael Burry Reveals Massive Tesla Short, Huge Inflationary Bet”

Article: What The Boom In Fraud Says About The Current Market Environment, Part 2

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What The Boom In Fraud Says About The Current Market Environment, Part 2

TYLER DURDEN, 01 May 2021

Just about three months ago, I wrote a blog post which featured this quote, from Charles P. Kindleberger’s Manias, Panics and Crashes: “Swindles are a response to the appetite for wealth (or plain greed) stimulated by the boom.” Since then, the number of frauds, or swindles, that has been revealed has soared, a clear testament to both the breadth and degree of greed inspired by the current boom.

Most recently, we saw the collapse of Greensill Capital as the result of fraud. Like WireCard, Greensill was a relatively young finance company looking to disrupt its more mature competitors which took a few (illegal) short cuts in the process. Continue reading “Article: What The Boom In Fraud Says About The Current Market Environment, Part 2”

Article: Deutsche Bank Avoids Archegos Meltdown, Reports Profit Surge

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Deutsche Bank Avoids Archegos Meltdown, Reports Profit Surge

Patricia Kowsmann, 28 April 2021

Deutsche Bank AG reported its strongest quarter in seven years thanks to activity at its investment bank, while the lender escaped the implosion of Archegos Capital Management that badly hit some rivals.

The news sent Deutsche Bank shares up 10% on Wednesday, their highest level since May 2018. Also helping its bottom line were lower charges on bad loans, as customers seemed to be weathering the pandemic effects better than expected.

The bank benefited from frenzied investor activity in financial markets. Its business advising clients on fundraising and mergers and acquisitions also boomed, as companies repositioned growth plans during the pandemic. A cost-savings plan imposed to turn the lender around following years of bad results is also helping. The bank reported a cost-to-income ratio of 77% compared with 89% a year ago. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank Avoids Archegos Meltdown, Reports Profit Surge”

Article: Market Manipulation Case Reopening Adds to Credit Suisse’s Woes

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Market Manipulation Case Reopening Adds to Credit Suisse’s Woes

Alicia McElhaney, 28 April 2021

Although appellate court judges threw out some claims against the bank, they said that market manipulation allegations were “plausible.”

Credit Suisse is having another rough week.

A U.S. Appeals Court reopened a 2018 case alleging that Credit Suisse had engaged in market manipulation of some exchange-traded notes that short the VIX, a popular proxy for volatility. Continue reading “Article: Market Manipulation Case Reopening Adds to Credit Suisse’s Woes”

Article: UBS Joins Morgan Stanley With Surprise $861 Million Archegos Hit

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UBS Joins Morgan Stanley With Surprise $861 Million Archegos Hit

Marion Halftermeyer, 27 April 2021

UBS Group AG disclosed an $861 million hit from the implosion of Archegos Capital Management and vowed to improve risk management, joining Morgan Stanley in blindsiding investors who’d been kept in the dark for weeks about the size of the losses.

The loss, mostly booked in the first quarter, overshadowed a better-than-expected profit, with strong performance in the key wealth management business. Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers said while the bank will require more transparency from clients to prevent such losses in the future, he defended the business with hedge funds as “strategic” and said he had no plans to follow rival Credit Suisse Group AG in cutting back lending.

“Clearly, we are very disappointed at this situation,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “We are reviewing the different prime brokerage relationships, as well as the GFO — the family office relationships.” Continue reading “Article: UBS Joins Morgan Stanley With Surprise $861 Million Archegos Hit”

Article: Credit Suisse Pressed by Senator on $200 Million Tax Fraud

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Credit Suisse Pressed by Senator on $200 Million Tax Fraud

David Voreacos, 27 April 2021

Credit Suisse Group AG, already under pressure for losing $5.5 billion in the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, must now answer questions from a powerful U.S. senator about a seven-year-old tax evasion scandal.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden wrote Tuesday to Credit Suisse and the Justice Department, asking their leaders to explain how the lender’s banking unit could have pleaded guilty in May 2014 to enabling U.S. tax evasion but failed to disclose more than $200 million in accounts held by an American.

Wyden asked Credit Suisse Chief Executive Thomas Gottstein and Attorney General Merrick Garland about the bank’s handling of accounts held by former business professor Dan Horsky. After whistle-blowers told the Justice Department about the accounts in July 2014, Internal Revenue Service agents approached Horsky in 2015. He cooperated with U.S. authorities and pleaded guilty to tax fraud in 2016. Continue reading “Article: Credit Suisse Pressed by Senator on $200 Million Tax Fraud”

Article: Archegos Losses Top $10 Billion as UBS, Nomura Add to Damage

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Archegos Losses Top $10 Billion as UBS, Nomura Add to Damage

Margot Patrick and Quentin Webb, 27 April 2021

The battering to Wall Street banks from Archegos Capital Management topped $10 billion after UBS Group AG and Nomura Holdings, Inc. reported fresh hits caused by the fund’s collapse.

UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank by assets, said it lost $774 million following Archegos’s implosion, a bigger hit than analysts expected, deepening the damage caused by the fund. Continue reading “Article: Archegos Losses Top $10 Billion as UBS, Nomura Add to Damage”

Article: German Regulator Accuses Deutsche Bank Board Member Of Insider Trading Linked To Wirecard

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German Regulator Accuses Deutsche Bank Board Member Of Insider Trading Linked To Wirecard

TYLER DURDEN, 20 April 2021

For a minute there, it appeared that Credit Suisse might have snatched Deutsche Bank’s crown as the most dysfunctional bank in Europe as the Swiss lender struggled with the fallout from the Archegos blowup and the collapse of Greensill (a scandal that has set off a massive corruption scandal in the UK, and triggered renewed calls for regulatory reform in the European financial system). CS has announced billions of dollars worth of losses tied to the scandals, fired its head of risk and nearly half a dozen other senior employees, and taken other steps in an attempt at penance. But on Monday, Deutsche Bank, which seemingly can’t go more than couple of quarters without a scandal, has found itself in the headlines once again. Continue reading “Article: German Regulator Accuses Deutsche Bank Board Member Of Insider Trading Linked To Wirecard”

Article: Credit Suisse Prime Brokerage Heads Fired Over Archegos Blowup

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Gary Gensler is now head of the SEC. What comes next?

TYLER DURDEN, 19 April 2021

Apparently, firing half a dozen executives including its head of risk management (Lara Warner, also one of the most high-ranking women in the global financial services industry) hasn’t done enough to quiet shareholders’ demands for change atop Credit Suisse, the Swiss banking giant that reported a $4.7 billion loss from the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, with billions of losses likely to follow from the collapse for Greensill.

As CEO Thomas Gottstein clings to his position, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that John Dabbs and Ryan Nelson will immediately step down as co-heads of prime services, the prime-brokerage unit responsible for extending all that credit to Archegos (as a reminder, for an explainer on how Archegos built its $100 billion massively leveraged position. Continue reading “Article: Credit Suisse Prime Brokerage Heads Fired Over Archegos Blowup”

Article: Morgan Stanley Burned by $911 Million of Losses on Archegos

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Morgan Stanley Burned by $911 Million of Losses on Archegos

Sridhar Natarajan, 16 April 2021

(Bloomberg) — Morgan Stanley became the latest bank to get swept up in the implosion of Archegos Capital Management, reporting $911 million in total losses related to the debacle.

“The current quarter includes a loss of $644 million related to a credit event for a single prime brokerage client, and $267 million of subsequent trading losses through the end of the quarter related to the same event,” Morgan Stanley said Friday in announcing first-quarter earnings.

The loss was tied to Archegos, said a person with knowledge of the matter.

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Article: David Einhorn calls out Elon Musk and Chamath Palihapitiya, defends GameStop champion Roaring Kitty, and blasts market regulators in a new letter. Here are the 11 best quotes.

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David Einhorn calls out Elon Musk and Chamath Palihapitiya, defends GameStop champion Roaring Kitty, and blasts market regulators in a new letter. Here are the 11 best quotes.

Theron Mohamed, 16 April 2021

The elite investor David Einhorn blasted market regulators, accused Elon Musk and Chamath Palihapitiya of juicing assets, and praised the GameStop champion Keith Gill in a letter to Greenlight Capital investors this week.

The Greenlight president also highlighted the “Big Short” investor Michael Burry’s exit from Twitter and pushed for greater scrutiny of Archegos Capital, the family office that blew up in March. Einhorn’s latest letter was obtained by ValueWalk. Continue reading “Article: David Einhorn calls out Elon Musk and Chamath Palihapitiya, defends GameStop champion Roaring Kitty, and blasts market regulators in a new letter. Here are the 11 best quotes.”

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