Morgan Stanley investment-bank list leaked in email boo-boo

A MORGAN Stanley staffer accidentally leaked an internal document listing more than 100 investment-banking deals the firm is pitching and monitoring in Asia, revealing details of the bank’s pipeline, according to people familiar with the matter.

The list contained candidates for initial public offerings, spanning from China to South Korea and India, according to a copy seen by Bloomberg News and verified by people familiar with the matter.

The list — which focused mostly on Asia, along with Europe, the Middle East, and Africa — also included private equity and pension funds backing those companies, and projects that were put on hold.

The deals list was sent out via email this week to some clients by Mohamed Atmani, Asia-Pacific head of financial sponsors in the investment-banking department, who later sought to retract the message, according to people familiar with the matter. A blurred copy was also posted by an account on Instagram. 

The banker had intended to send a client-facing version of the file, which largely contained general updates on the private equity sector and recent transactions, but mistakenly sent the internal version instead, some of which contained extensive price-sensitive information.

Atmani, a managing director based in Hong Kong who joined the bank in 2018, declined to comment immediately and could not be reached for further comment.

In a statement to Bloomberg News, Morgan Stanley said it takes client confidentiality extremely seriously.

“We promptly took steps to address this inadvertent sharing of information and we continue to engage with relevant parties,” the New York-based firm said.

The incident is an embarrassing misstep for the bank, which has ranked among the top underwriters of Hong Kong stock sales and Asia mergers for years.

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While such errors are rare, it highlights the sensitivity of information handled by investment-banking teams, where details of prospective client transactions are typically closely guarded.

It’s unclear whether clients and related parties have reached out to Morgan Stanley and how the firm is addressing the issue.

Several banks and financial institutions have accidentally leaked sensitive documents in recent years, leading to regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and long‑term customer trust issues. 

After a situation such as this, restoring the relationship of trust with clients is key, Michael Aiello, a prominent M&A lawyer, said on Wednesday in a Bloomberg Television interview.

“The first thing you have to do is run to the fire,” Charlie Bouckaert, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s global head of mergers and acquisitions, said in the same interview about handling such situations.

“You have to own what happened, you have to be straightforward about it and you’ve got to reach out to the people impacted and let them know you’re taking ownership and you’ll do what it takes to get it right.”

In July, Bank of Baroda in India said an employee’s email account was compromised, resulting in unauthorised access to certain data. 

Due to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, a unit of First American Financial Corp. exposed 885 million documents with customer information. New York’s top financial industry regulator fined the firm US$1 million for concealing those flaws. 

Banco Santander SA said data managed by an external party in 2024 was accessed without authorisation, affecting information of clients and staff. BLOOMBERG