Morgan Stanley sold $5 billion in Archegos' stocks just before wave of sales hit rivals, report says

• Morgan Stanley sold about $5 billion in shares that Archegos Capital had to unload, with the sales made the night before a massive securities sale, CNBC reported Tuesday.
• Sources told CNBC the investment bank didn't tell the buyers that the shares it was selling would be the start of an unprecedented wave of securities sales by some investment banks.
• Archegos collapsed after Wall Street banks forced the firm to sell more than $20 billion worth of shares after failing to meet a margin call.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Morgan Stanley sold about $5 billion in shares of now-collapsed hedge fund Archegos Capital Management the night before a massive securities sale took place, CNBC reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Archegos' biggest prime broker sold shares in US media and Chinese tech names to a small group of hedge funds late Thursday, March 25, the report said, adding that Morgan Stanley sold the shares at a discount and told the hedge funds that they were part of a margin call that could prevent the collapse of an unnamed client.

According to the report, sources said the investment bank didn't tell the buyers that the basket of shares would be the start of an unprecedented wave of tens of billions of dollars in securities sales by Morgan Stanley and five other investment banks starting the next day, on Friday.

The sources told CNBC that Morgan Stanley had Archegos' consent to shop around its stock late March 25.

European lender Credit Suisse said Tuesday it will likely suffer a $4.7 billion charge to first-quarter profits after Archegos failed to meet its margin requirements.

Bill Hwang, who in 2013 founded Archegos as a family office, used borrowed money to make large bets on some stocks until Wall Street banks forced the firm to sell more than $20 billion worth of shares after failing to meet a margin call.