Credit Suisse just divested several company stocks tied to Archegos Capital Management worth an estimated $2.3 billion.
The divestment comes a week after its rivals dumped shares in the same companies such as ViacomCBS following the implosion of Bill Hwang's family office as he dumped billions of dollars in holdings that were highly-leveraged to bank loans.
Sources familiar with the matter said Credit Suisse hit the market with block trades tied to Vipshop Holdings, ViacomCBS, and Farfetch. All three stocks were trading substantially below their prices before the Archegos collapse.
Archegos defaulted on margin calls from global investment banks such as Morgan Stanley, Nomura Holdings, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs in late March.
Archegos was found to have used total return swaps to hide its high exposure, which led to severe losses. A report from The Wall Street Journal estimates that Hwang may have lost around $8 billion over 10 days linked to his company's derivative contracts.
Credit Suisse reportedly made offers to offload 34 million shares in ViacomCBS, 11 million shares in Farfetch, and 14 million shares in Vipshop Holdings. Share prices of the three companies tanked in post-market trading, dragging down Credit Suisse's U.S.-listed shares.
The Zurich-based bank has yet to detail the extent of its losses related to Archegos. However, people with knowledge in the matter said the losses could run into the billions of dollars.
Analysts at JP Morgan chase estimate that banks could accrue losses of between $5 billion to $10 billion as their positions get unwound.
The collapse of Bill Hwang's Archegos portfolio is considered to be one of the largest fund flame-outs since the demise of Long-Term Capital Management in the 1990s. The company's leveraged bets collapsed within days after several stocks it was holding dipped, triggering margin calls.
Sources said that Credit Suisse will be moving ahead with its planned management reshuffling. The head of its investment arm, Brian China, is set to step down. The same sources said the bank could announce his departure as soon as Wednesday.
Credit Suisse's chief risk officer, Lara Warner, could also exit the company but sources said that her removal is still being discussed. The bank's chief executive officer, Thomas Gottstein, is expected to remain, sources said.
