You can’t tell me you didn’t at least suspect it a little bit. Can you? I mean look at that picture. Those are not the looks of a group unable to find good stimulants.
The SEC’s fraud charges may be the least of accused financial scammer R. Allen Stanford’s worries. Federal authorities tell ABC News that the FBI and others have been investigating whether Stanford was involved in laundering drug money for Mexico’s notorious Gulf Cartel.
Accused Financier Under Federal Drug Investigation [ABC News]
UBS’s Capitulation On Privacy Policy Could Fuck Banks (Reuters)
Swiss Banks have managed to keep the names of clients well guarded for the past unknown years, but no more: the US tax code has prevailed in destroying whatever trust remained in the once illustrious institutions’ ability to keep their collective mouths shut. You have to give attention to the fact that the governments of the world now demand access to more information than ever before in history, which is the first step towards autocracy; the latter steps being that they remove education and the ability to defend oneself. Aside, there may be a flight to safety (from Swiss banks of all things) to locations where privacy is still guarded – Antigua, anyone?
Japanese Banks Take Hit After Changing Investment Strategies (Bloomberg)
“The lenders took on increased risks under foreign ownership. Aozora Bank Ltd., acquired in 2003 by Cerberus Capital Management LP, reported reverses on subprime mortgages, GMAC LLC shares and Bernard Madoff’s fund. Shinsei Bank Ltd., bought in 2000 by private investors including billionaire J. Christopher Flowers, had losses on a stake in Germany’s Hypo Real Estate Holding AG.
“Aozora and Shinsei were managed like many banks in America, investing in derivatives and other toxic assets,” said Neil Katkov, head of Asia research at Boston-based Celent LLC. “It was a bargain with the devil.”"
Oil Up On Supply Crunch Warning (BBC)
There’s fear coming from the IEA that there’s going to be a supply lag once the collective world economy picks back up again, which is like saying “once we stop Atlanta from burning there’s going to be a shortage of water for a while.”
“”Currently the demand is very low due to the very bad economic situation,” Mr Tanaka said.
“But when the economy starts growing, recovery comes again in 2010 and then onward, we may have another serious supply crunch if capital investment is not coming.”"
Playboy Posts Loss, Will Consider Company Sale (Reuters)
I’m volunteering to work the deal; given today’s economic climate there’s going to need to be months of due diligence – it’s important this is done right.
“Playboy Enterprises Inc, publisher of one of the world’s best known adult magazines, posted a wider fourth-quarter loss, hurt by $157.2 million in restructuring and other one-time costs, as well as weaker-than-expected revenue.
The company, which posted a net loss in each quarter of 2008, also said it would be open to discussions about an outright sale of the company, or changes in the strategic direction of the flagship Playboy Magazine.
Net loss for Playboy, which in recent months has seen a management shake-up including the resignation in December of longtime Chief Executive Christie Hefner, was $145.7 million, or $4.37 per share. This compares with a loss of $1.1 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-ago period.”
On The Heels Of The Mortgage Announcement, Fed Announces Inflation Target (FT)
More interesting than the Mortgage Bailout (to include: who’s angered by it and who’s not, who qualifies and how I don’t really care) the Fed has announced they’re pushing for a long term target inflation of 1.7 to 2.0% with a short term contraction of .5 to 1.3%. How they’re going to deal with this influx of Ms and not have an inflationary push is somewhat of a mystery, though their argument may source from destroyed wealth through this economic contraction.
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$$$ Keep your money under the mattress [The Deal]
$$$ Playboy open to possible sale or strategic changes. (PS: I sent an email to the editorial team, re: the Women of Wall Street issue that was slated to come out this month, and have heard nothing. Don’t say I never did anything for you.) [Dealbook]
$$$ Bad news for fashion week [Zero Hedge]
$$$ New York To Retrain Wall Streeters [NYT]
UBS will pay $780 million in fines and immediately turn over some client names to settle a federal criminal probe into the bank’s role in helping U.S. taxpayers hide bank accounts from the IRS. The Swiss bank will admit to wrongdoing as part of its deferred-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.
Deferred Prosecution Agreement (.pdf) [The Wall Street Journal]
Really? This is all we get? Does anyone else feel used?
To The Oppenheimer Team,
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Aside from grim speculation that he may or may not have been on a NetJets flight from Houston to Antigua, no one has a fucking clue where Stanford is- but that’s not for lack of trying.
U.S. marshals assisting the SEC have been unable to serve Stanford with court orders freezing assets and appointing a receiver to run his Stanford Financial Group companies since a raid on his Houston headquarters Tuesday, Garber said.
Garber said she was unaware of any warrants for Stanford’s arrest and said the SEC was still hoping for his voluntary cooperation on the civil fraud charges.
“Certainly he is still subject to the court orders. To that extent, we certainly want to ensure that he is served,” Garber said. She said two executive who were charged with Stanford, Laura Pendergest-Holt and Jim Davis, had been served.
Finally, someone seems to have read How To Properly Escape Capture Following Your Massive (or Relatively Massive) Financial Fraud: A Dealbreaker Guide. Of course, this “he’s gone” talk is coming from the SEC which would be unable to find its own ass with a full-length mirror and a multilingual diagram. Either that, or the speculation that Stanford has been enjoying the help of certain Federal agencies has some merit. We wondered before why Sir Allen should have such a large presence in Venezuela and Ecuador.
Hmmmm.
Stanford whereabouts unknown after charges: SEC [Reuters]
So! Earlier, an intrepid reader-cum-citizen journalist pointed our direction to this jet, which, on Monday, flew from Houston to Antigua. Given that there’s a notable man with whom authorities would like to have a word, whose company’s headquarters are in Houston, and who owns a home (and spends most of his time) in Antigua, we wondered aloud if perhaps he’d been aboard.
Did we say definitively that he was? No, those of you with a mastery of the English language will agree, we did not. We said it was a possibility (alternatively, we also said it was a possibility that it was his butler, flying to Antigua ahead of the boss to ready the gossamer pillows).
Apparently NetJets didn’t like that, which would explain why a representative from the company called to screech through the phone at me, probably hoping she could come through the thing like Ghost Dad and wring my neck.* Unfortunately for her, she’s no Bill Cosby, and also unfortunately, she couldn’t say whether or not the carrier was in fact transporting Stanny, only that its not registered to the cricket lover (right: like we said, it’s registered to NetJets). Then she hung up on me, which I didn’t think was very neighborly, though I won’t let it get between us.
*Take a number, toots.
The bankers’ fall from grace could only be followed by serious perception declines in the Hamptons. That’s just fine with the locals. Thank god that new money contingent is forced to move on.
…For the time being, the economy has taken care of the McMansion developers. Houses sit unfinished and it’s distressing for those who have invested, and even worse for the locals whose livelihoods depend on them.
But maybe this downturn has a silver lining given the number of terrible houses that have been built.
The alliance between local governments and developers, where trinkets are tossed to the towns in exchange for the right to overbuild with impunity, has to be examined and challenged. It’s no longer an issue of what we want this place to be but rather an issue of “can it be?” So this downturn is a very good time for us to take stock and reflect and, hopefully, emerge once again as a changed and fabulous place.
Real Estate [27east] via Banker Gone Broke
Who are the Goldman Sachs executives facing margin calls of “tens of millions”? Charlie Gasparino, perhaps out propriety (I kid…I kid) wouldn’t say specifically when he broke the story, nor would the bank, but surely their names have been scrawled on the wall of some men’s room at 85 Broad by now, and I would like for one of you to tell us who they are. Chaz said the parties were “top” executives, which could mean one of the Super Seven (Blankfein, Gary Cohn, Winks, David Vinair, J. Michael Evans, Michael Sherwood, John Weinberg), who also have the distinction of going without bonuses this year.
Oh, awkward update: according to Cramer, “top” executives, under the Buffett deal, aren’t allowed to sell. So either “top” = first years, or *someone(s)* wanted to buy some alt assets no matter what the Buffs said they could do with their stock, in which case there will be NO tit smothering by B’s buxom prosties for them!
Sometime friend of Dealbreaker 1-2 takes Paul Krugman to task for a recent post. One wonders why the New York Times continues to provide a forum for the man. We have our pet theories about pictures of AOSj, but that’s for another time.
Sometime around 5am this morning (sleep is for the weak) I read a week-old post from our favorite economist liberal acolyte, Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman. Beginning his career as a caterpillar economist (churning out paper after paper by candlelight from the drafty Princetonian economics basement) he apparently cocooned sometime ago and morphed into a beautiful butterfly (aesthetically pleasing, but lacking substance or utility) for the NYT and democratic party.
Krugman: Sixteen Years (of Intellectual Dishonesty) [1-2]
