Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are said to have shared with big investors while keeping public in the dark

Financial regulators are to investigate whether the banks in charge of Facebook's initial stock offering broke the rules by selectively releasing negative news about the company before shares went on sale.

The financial industry regulatory authority (Finra) is looking into allegations that Morgan Stanley and other banks released reduced revenue forecasts for Facebook to big investors – but not the general public – before Friday's IPO. Such activity could constitute a violation of securities law.

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