Banking, finance, and taxes
Facebook IPO Mess Costs Morgan Stanley $5 Million
Published:
Last Updated:
The commonwealth of Massachusetts has fined investment bank Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) $5 million for “improper influence” related to its dealing with research analysts prior to the March IPO of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB).
The ruling stems from a notice sent by Facebook’s CFO to Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter of the offering, on the first day of Facebook’s roadshow leading up to the IPO in which the company CFO he was no longer confident in the revenue guidance he had offered to analysts. The filing was later amended, but not before Facebook’s CFO had made numerous phone calls to some analysts conveying information that was not available in the existing filing.
Massachusetts has already fined Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) $2 million for supervision failures when the bank’s leading Internet analyst broke the rules related to disclosures about Facebook and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).
Shares of Morgan Stanley are up about 0.2% in after-hours trading today, at $18.56 in a 52-week range of $12.26 to $21.19.
Paul Ausick
Robinhood set out to democratize investing to individuals, and it’s not slowing down. The app makes it possible to buy and sell stocks, mutual funds, trade options, and even cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
With FDIC insurance ,an award winning design, and benefits like IRAs and more, Robinhood could be your path to a richer tomorrow.
Sign up today — click here to start your journey.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.