Advise Our Clients…

Mr. Valentine Morgan Stanley says “SELL!”

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s chairman said on Tuesday that regulators plan to review allegations that Morgan Stanley shared negative news before Facebook’s initial public offering with institutional investors.

“The allegations, if true, are a matter of regulatory concern” to FINRA and SEC, Ketchum told Reuters.

Ketchum made the remarks to Reuters in response to allegations that Morgan Stanley [MS 13.31 0.12 (+0.91%) ], the lead underwriter on the deal, unexpectedly delivered some negative news to major clients in the run-up to Facebook’s [FB 31.00 -3.03 (-8.9%) ] $16 billion IPO: The bank’s consumer Internet analyst, Scott Devitt, was reducing his revenue forecasts for the company.

Massachusetts Secretary of Commonwealth William Galvin has issued a subpoena to Morgan Stanley over the discussions with investors on Facebook.

It is unusual for analysts at lead underwriters to make such changes so close to the IPO, sources said. It is unclear whether Morgan Stanley only told its top clients about the revised view or spread the word more broadly.

Like via, say, Facebook.

Update: Ching-ching!

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Facebook Inc. FB -8.90% Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has sold 30.2 million shares and director Peter Thiel has sold 16.8 million shares of the social-networking company, according to securities filings published late Tuesday. The sales confirm plans detailed in a prospectus before Friday’s $16 billion IPO. Zuckerberg sold 30.2 million shares at a price of $37.58 for gross proceeds of $1.13 billion; Thiel sold 16.8 million shares for gross proceeds of $633 million. Facebook insiders had told prospective shareholders of their plans in an S-1 filing last week. Facebook FB -8.90% shares were down 0.8% after hours at $30.74.

Hey, those canapes at his wedding on Saturday didn’t buy themselves, you know!

categories Biz, Fun | | datetime May 23, 2012 6:21 am

5 Responses to “Advise Our Clients…”

  1. JeffS says:
    May 23, 2012 at 10:44 am

    How does that song go? “Money for nothin’, and chicks for free!”?

    Fits this Facebook IPO perfectly.

  2. major dad says:
    May 23, 2012 at 11:18 am

    Somebody may be in a real trouble over this. Here’s hopin’.

  3. mojo says:
    May 23, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    He thanks you for your money – suckers!

  4. #Facebook: Well, that didn’t take long | Fausta's Blog says:
    May 23, 2012 at 5:57 pm

    […] UPDATE: Advise Our Clients… […]

  5. aelfheld says:
    May 24, 2012 at 10:49 am

    Maybe they found out Zuckerberg didn’t donate to Bam’s re-election.

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