Morgan Stanley Hit With $9.3 Million Lawsuit Over Sino-Forest Options

Hong Kong-based hedge fund Oasis Management is suing Morgan Stanley for $9.3 million over options bought in Sino-Forest, Bloomberg reports.

Here's what Oasis claims. [via Bloomberg]

Morgan Stanley failed to settle the options contracts in an effort to “limit its liability,” Oasis said in a lawsuit filed in London in July.

What supposedly happened was Oasis bought options to sell Sino-Forest for C$19 on May 12. 

Then about three weeks later, Sino-Forest's stock price plummeted after short seller Carson Block's research firm Muddy Waters said in a report that Sino-Forest had overstated its timberland holdings. Shares of the Hong Kong- and Mississauga, Ontario-based timberland company have dived 74% since June 1 -- the day before the report was released.

In order to settle the suit, Morgan Stanley would have to pay Oasis C$7.5 million, Bloomberg reports, citing the hedge fund's court filing. 

The filing also said that the put options are valued at C$9.5 million compared with C$2 million for the equivalent shares, the report said.  Back in May, Oasis claimed it paid Morgan Stanley a premium of C$770,000 for the options.

Oasis also alleges that Morgan Stanley claimed that the options were terminated because trading in Sino-Forest's shares was suspended.

Canadian regulators halted trading in shares of Sino-Forest on August 26, saying the Hong Kong- and Mississauga, Ontario-based timberland company may have engaged in fraud.

Oasis also said Morgan Stanley offered C$3.8 million to cancel the deal. 

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BREAKING: Justice Department Files Lawsuit To Block AT&T, T-Mobile Merger

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The U.S. Department of Justice has filed an anti-trust lawsuit to block AT&T's planned $39 billion merger T-Mobile.

“AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low- priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market,” DOJ said in its filing obtained by Bloomberg.

AT&T shares are down about 4 percent on the news, while those of Sprint — seen as losing out if the merger were to go through — are up over 7 percent.

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