Reported by Anthony Lin Senior Legal Editor

Here are the key takeaways from the testimony:

• Giselle Tropper, head of capital markets financing at UBS, described how the bank hedged Archegos’ swap orders. Some of this testimony was explanatory for the jury’s benefit. But it also backs up the prosecution’s contention that Hwang knew he could manipulate the market because his counterparties acted in predictable ways, chiefly by buying the shares underly his swaps orders as hedges.
• Tropper went on to describe how she became aware that Hwang’s family office was in distress. Tropper said management came to her desk on March 24, 2021, and it was decided that the bank would take no new orders from Archegos at that point. Archegos subsequently missed UBS’ margin calls, and Tropper testified that she hand-delivered the default notice to the family office. UBS ultimately lost $860 million, she said.
• Former Archegos compliance officer Fernanda Piedra testified that everyone at Archegos, including Hwang, had to sign an acknowledgement that they’d read the compliance manual and understand its policies. These included a prohibition on manipulative trading practices. Employees were required to report any suspected manipulation to the compliance department. Hwang is facing several counts of market manipulation.

Read full report: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2024-05-29/archegos-trial-may-29