Archegos Capital Management
A private family office known for catastrophic over-leveraged bets that imploded in 2021, costing Wall Street billions.
- Entries
- 6
- On the record
- 5
- Stories
- 1
- Latest entry
- Jul 24, 2023
The record
Archegos Capital Management, LP was the family office of Sung Kook (Bill) Hwang, who before Archegos ran the hedge fund adviser Tiger Asia Management. In December 2012 the SEC charged Hwang and his Tiger Asia firms with insider trading and attempted manipulation in Chinese bank stocks; they agreed to pay $44 million to settle, and federal prosecutors in New Jersey brought a parallel criminal charge against Tiger Asia Management.
According to the SEC's 2022 complaint, Archegos used total return swaps bought on margin to build concentrated positions, growing from about $1.5 billion in value with $10 billion in exposure in March 2020 to more than $36 billion with $160 billion in exposure at its peak in March 2021. When those stocks fell, it could not meet its margin calls, and its default left its bank counterparties with billions of dollars in losses.
Credit Suisse alone lost roughly $5.5 billion, the Federal Reserve said in 2023 when it fined UBS, which had acquired the bank, $268.5 million over Credit Suisse's risk management of Archegos. Hwang and the firm's former chief financial officer, Patrick Halligan, pleaded not guilty to racketeering and securities fraud charges in April 2022; two other executives pleaded guilty and cooperated. Hwang's trial and sentence are covered in the story in this file.
Roles and honours on the record
- 2012 Hwang's earlier firms, Tiger Asia Management and Tiger Asia Partners, settled SEC insider trading and manipulation charges for $44 million source
- 2020-2021 Family office owned by Sung Kook (Bill) Hwang, with Patrick Halligan as chief financial officer, William Tomita as head trader and Scott Becker as chief risk officer source
- 2021 Defaulted counterparty of Credit Suisse, which lost roughly $5.5 billion source
Every entry, newest first
- Ruled
UBS to pay $387 million in fines from US and British regulators over Credit Suisse's Archegos losses, per The New York Times. Bill Hwang gets 18 years for Archegos; banks lost about $10B
Stories in this file
The record, entry by entry
- 2012-12-12 Filed The SEC charged Bill Hwang, founder of Tiger Asia Management and Tiger Asia Partners, with insider trading and attempted manipulation of Chinese bank stocks that produced $16.7 million in illicit profits. Hwang and his firms agreed to pay $44 million to settle, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey filed criminal charges against Tiger Asia Management. SEC press release 2012-264
- 2021 Official Archegos defaulted, and Credit Suisse lost roughly $5.5 billion, according to the Federal Reserve, which said the bank failed to manage the risk despite repeated warnings. Federal Reserve Board press release
- 2022-04-27 Filed The SEC charged Hwang, Archegos's CFO Patrick Halligan, head trader William Tomita and chief risk officer Scott Becker, alleging Hwang used swaps to drive up prices of companies' stocks and that Archegos misled counterparties about its exposure, concentration and liquidity. SEC press release 2022-70
- 2022-04-27 Filed The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York charged Hwang and Halligan with racketeering and securities fraud; both pleaded not guilty that afternoon. Tomita and Becker pleaded guilty and were cooperating, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. Hwang's lawyer said he was extremely disappointed by the indictment. CNBC report
- 2023-07-24 Ruled The Federal Reserve Board issued a consent order and a $268.5 million fine against UBS Group AG for Credit Suisse's unsafe and unsound counterparty credit risk management with Archegos. UBS had acquired Credit Suisse in June 2023. Federal Reserve Board press release