Morgan Stanley managing director Kamal Ahmed is under investigation for allegedly leaking information about a pending acquisition by Advanced Micro Devices.  The Menlo Park, CA banker is accused of passing the illegal tip on to an unidentified person, who then passed it on to Raj Rajaratnam of the Galleon Group.

The allegations emerged on 1/21 in a court filing by Mr. Rajaratnam’s lawyers, which included a redacted copy of a letter from federal prosecutors to John Dowd, a lawyer for Mr. Rajaratnam.  Mr. Ahmed’s name was redacted from the filing, but not his Morgan Stanley affiliation and the WSJournal identified Mr. Ahmed as the M. Stanley banker cited in the letter.  The firm placed Mr. Ahmed on leave while it conducts an inquiry into the alleged misconduct.  He has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and he's been cooperating with the firm's internal investigation. 

Anil Kumar, a former executive with McKinsey & Company, has previously said he gave Mr. Rajaratnam information about the pending A.M.D.-ATI deal;  he pleaded guilty last year, saying he received $2.6mn from Mr. Rajaratnam for providing that information.  He's been cooperating with prosecutors.  Mr. Rajaratnam has denied paying him.

Mr. Ahmed joined M. Stanley in 1999, and named an MD in 2007.  He advised on a number of large technology deals, including H-P's $2.7 billion acquisition of 3Com in 2007.   [NYT Dealbook, 1/23]