Understanding the Archegos meltdown

Financial scandal: A Credit Suisse logo is seen at the group’s headquarters in Zurich. Archegos’ meltdown has forced big banks, including Nomura, Credit Suisse, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, to liquidate their stock positions. — Bloomberg

SINGAPORE: Banks are facing billions of dollars in losses after a little-known US investment firm, Archegos Capital Management, defaulted last month on margin calls, forcing a brutal near US$30bil (S$40.4bil or RM124.14bil) stock fire sale.

In an era of easy money, Archegos was able to borrow so much that its failure created shockwaves large enough to ripple across global financial markets.