Credit Suisse starts unloading stocks linked to Archegos

[NEW YORK] Credit Suisse Group AG started unloading stocks tied to the Archegos Capital blowup more than a week after some rivals dumped their shares and skirted losses.

The Swiss bank hit the market with block trades tied to ViacomCBS, Vipshop Holdings and Farfetch that totaled more than US$2 billion at current prices, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The stocks are trading substantially below where they were last month before Bill Hwang's family office imploded.

Shares in the three companies declined in postmarket trading, as did US-listed shares of Credit Suisse.

The Zurich-based firm has yet to provide investors with an update on the extent of the hit it faces from its relationship with Archegos, but it could run into the billions of dollars, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Credit Suisse's investment-bank chief Brian Chin is set to leave, with his exit announced as soon as Tuesday. Leaders are also discussing removing chief risk officer Lara Warner, while sparing chief executive officer Thomas Gottstein.

The unwinding of Bill Hwang's Archegos portfolio has turned into one of the biggest fund flameouts since Long-Term Capital Management's demise in the 1990s.

Archegos had grown rapidly on the back of heavily leveraged bets. These came undone within days late last month as stocks including ViacomCBS and GSX Techedu tumbled, triggering margin calls.

Credit Suisse and Nomura Holdings have told shareholders their businesses face "significant" losses. Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley, which were among the first banks to liquidate Archegos's holdings, appear to have avoided hits to their businesses.

Given Archegos's size, banks may accrue total losses in the range of US$5 billion to US$10 billion as positions get unwound, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts led by Kian Abouhossein wrote in a note to clients last week.

The Credit Suisse offering on Monday was large - about 34 million shares in ViacomCBS, 14 million shares of Vipshop and 11 million shares of Farfetch, but this is still a fraction of the size traded by banks at the end of March.

BLOOMBERG