Morgan Stanley ‘fat finger’ leak of confidential deal pipeline sets off alarm bells

Morgan Stanley says it ‘promptly took steps to address this inadvertent sharing of information’ and that it is engaged with relevant parties

The inadvertent disclosure of confidential information by a Morgan Stanley employee this week alarmed Hong Kong’s banking industry, listed issuers and regulators, according to several sources familiar with the matter.

An email sent by the Hong Kong-based employee on Tuesday afternoon included an attached file with details on more than 100 deals in the pipeline, including initial public offerings (IPOs), private equity arrangements, pension fund positions and other projects in Greater China, India, South Korea, Australia and South Asia, according to the sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The document gave the names of companies and institutional investors involved in the deals, which included pitches, ongoing discussions and those that had been put on hold, they said.

Although Morgan Stanley later sent another email asking those who received the one sent in error not to open the attached file, the deal list had already been widely circulated in the financial sector, according to the sources.