“There’s no such thing as magnetism in financial markets,” Wahal told the jury. “These charts say nothing about causality. It’s the intersection of demand and supply — that’s really all you see.”
Halligan’s Defense Strategy
Halligan has argued that he is being targeted with a campaign of lies by former Archegos director of risk and key government cooperator Scott Becker, who, evidence showed, hated his former boss. Another cooperating witness, former Archegos head trader William Tomita, gave lengthy and sometimes emotional testimony that largely targeted Hwang. Meanwhile, Becker told the jury that he lied to banks on the orders of Halligan.
Archegos testimony Trial : Testimony from Bankers
The trial also featured testimony from a slew of bankers who told the jury they felt like they never got a true picture of the numbers inside Archegos, a so-called family office founded by Hwang after his former hedge fund Tiger Asia closed amid criminal charges. Some bankers testified that their institutions declined to work with Archegos, while others, including former UBS risk management executive Bryan Fairbanks, said their banks lost large sums of money after engaging in swaps contracts with Hwang and company. Fairbanks stated the “lies” told by the Archegos defendants cost the bank $860 million.
