Morgan Stanley staffer accidentally emails internal list of over 100 investment-banking deals to clients

New business data points to the fact that A Morgan Stanley staffer accidentally leaked an internal document stock-exchange debut more than 100 investment-banking deals the firm is pitching and monitoring in Asia, revealing details of the bank’s pipeline, according to people familiar with the matter.

The list contained candidates for initial public offerings, spanning from China to South Korea and India, according to a copy noted by Bloomberg News and verified by people familiar with the matter. The list — which focused mostly on Asia, along with Europe, the Middle East, and Africa — additionally included private equity and pension funds backing those firms, and projects that were put on hold.

The deals list was sent out via email the current week to some clients by Mohamed Atmani, Asia-Pacific head of financial sponsors in the investment-banking department, who later sought to retract the message, according to people familiar with the matter. A blurred copy was additionally posted by an account on Instagram.

The banker had intended to send a client-facing version of the file, which largely contained general updates on the private equity sector and recent transactions, but mistakenly sent the internal version instead, some of which contained extensive price-sensitive information.

Atmani, a managing director based in Hong Kong who joined the bank in 2018, declined to comment immediately and could not be touched for further comment.

In a statement to Bloomberg News, Morgan Stanley stated it takes client confidentiality extremely seriously.

“We promptly took steps to address this inadvertent sharing of information and we keep engage with relevant parties,” the New York-based firm stated.

The incident is an embarrassing misstep for the bank, which has ranked among the top underwriters of Hong Kong stock sales and Asia mergers for years. While such errors are rare, it highlights the sensitivity of information handled by investment-banking teams, where details of prospective client transactions are typically closely guarded.

It’s unclear whether clients and related parties have touched out to Morgan Stanley and how the firm is addressing the offering.

Several banks and financial institutions have accidentally leaked sensitive documents in recent years, leading to regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and long‑term customer trust issues.

In July, Bank of Baroda in India stated an employee’s email account was compromised, resulting in unauthorized access to certain data.

Due to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, a unit of First American Financial Corp. exposed 885 million documents with customer information. New York’s top financial industry regulator fined the firm $1 million for concealing those flaws.

Banco Santander SA stated data managed by an external party in 2024 was accessed without authorization, affecting information of clients and staff.