bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Reuters

Former billionaire investor Bill Hwang was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Wednesday over the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, which cost Wall Street banks more than US$10 billion.
Hwang was sentenced by US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan, where a jury convicted Hwang in July on 10 criminal charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and market manipulation.
“The amount of losses that were caused by your conduct are larger than any other losses I have dealt with,” Hellerstein said before announcing the sentence.
Archegos’ March 2021 implosion took less than a week, stunning Wall Street and Hwang’s lenders.

The US Attorney’s office in Manhattan sought a 21-year prison term for Hwang – unusually long for a white-collar case – and for him to forfeit US$12.35 billion and make restitution to victims.
“It stands among a rare class of cases that truly could be described as a national calamity,” prosecutor Andrew Thomas said at the sentencing hearing before Hellerstein.
Hellerstein did not reach a decision on Wednesday on whether Hwang must forfeit money or pay restitution. The sentencing hearing is expected to resume on Thursday.
Before sentencing Hwang, Hellerstein asked the defendant’s lawyer, Dani James, how she thought Hwang compared to Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced in March to 25 years in prison for stealing US$8 billion from users of the now-bankrupt FTX exchange.
“Mr Bankman-Fried was literally stealing from his customers,” James said. “I don’t think that’s what’s happened here.”
Hwang had asked for no prison, forfeiture or restitution, and to remain free on bail while he appealed his conviction. James said his low risk of committing more crimes meant a lengthy prison term served no purpose.

“The notion that he would commit a crime in the future, it’s just not so,” James said.
Bankman-Fried denies wrongdoing and is appealing his conviction.
Hwang, 60, was a protégé of late hedge-fund billionaire Julian Robertson.
He set up Archegos in New York as a family office in 2013, the year after his former hedge fund Tiger Asia Management pleaded guilty to wire fraud in an insider-trading case.
Prosecutors accused Hwang of lying to banks about Archegos’ portfolio so he could borrow money aggressively and make concentrated bets on media and technology stocks such as ViacomCBS, now called Paramount Global.
While Archegos eventually managed US$36 billion, Hwang’s borrowing helped him amass $160 billion of exposure to stocks.
His downfall occurred when Hwang was unable to meet margin calls, as the prices of some of his favourite stocks began falling and various banks unloaded stocks that had backed his so-called total return swaps.
More than US$100 billion of market value in Hwang’s stocks was wiped out. Several banks suffered losses, including Credit Suisse, which lost US$5.5 billion, and Nomura Holdings. Credit Suisse is now part of UBS.
Hwang’s lawyers’ request for no punishment also cited Hwang’s Christian faith and his non-profit Grace and Mercy Foundation, which has since 2006 donated at least US$600 million to combat homelessness, poverty and human trafficking, among other causes.
In a statement to the court before Hellerstein announced the sentence, Hwang said he hoped the punishment would “allow me to serve as much as I can given the circumstances”.
Hwang’s lawyers have said his net worth has fallen to “at most” US$55.3 million.
Hwang’s co-defendant, former Archegos Chief Financial Officer Patrick Halligan, was convicted at the same trial on three criminal charges. His sentencing is scheduled for January 27. Both chose not to testify at their two-month trial.


Indonesia urged to tread carefully as Russia courts Prabowo with energy and defence offers

Hong Kong needs to attract global champions to broaden fundraising base: FSDC

US Christmas shoppers are paying a high price for Trump’s tariffs

Why US review of Aukus submarine deal for Australia is kept secret

United States

Archegos founder Bill Hwang sentenced to 18 years in prison for massive US fraud

Bill Hwang, founder and head of private investment firm Archegos Capital Management, arrives for his sentencing hearing in New York on Wedneday. Photo: AFP

Bill Hwang at the United States District Court in Manhattan in New York City on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

The building that reportedly housed Archegos Capital, in New York in March 2021. File photo: Reuters

Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-deputy Gary Wang spared prison time over FTX fraud

Former FTX executive Gary Wang attends his sentencing on fraud charges in New York on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, exits federal court in New York after testifying in October 2023. Photo: AP

Archegos founder Bill Hwang convicted at fraud trial over fund’s collapse

Bill Hwang, founder of Archegos Capital Management, arrives at federal court in New York on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Patrick Halligan, former chief financial officer of Archegos Capital Management, arrives at federal court in New York on Tuesday. Photo: AP

888 7th Ave, the building that reportedly houses Archegos Capital, is pictured in New York in March 2021. Photo: Reuters

Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital may have inflicted US$10 billion in total losses for the world’s banks and brokers from Wall Street to Zurich and Tokyo, JPMorgan says

An employee of Tokyo Stock Exchange reacts at its trading room in Tokyo February 24, 2009. Photo: Reuters

News

World

United States & Canada

Economy, Trade & Business

Business

Banking & Finance

Hwang’s family-owned hedge fund was at the centre of a market manipulation scheme said to have cost global investment banks billions of dollars


Hwang’s family-owned hedge fund was at the centre of a market manipulation scheme said to have cost global investment banks billions of dollars.


Crime

Banking & finance

Millionaires and billionaires

Archegos founder Bill Hwang sentenced to 18 years in prison for massive US fraud

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hwang’s family-owned hedge fund was at the centre of a market manipulation scheme said to have cost global investment banks billions of dollars

Hwang’s family-owned hedge fund was at the centre of a market manipulation scheme said to have cost global investment banks billions of dollars