Putting the doctrine of inevitable discovery to good use, Nomura has decided that it should not reward executive search firm Hogarth Davies Lloyd with “finding” employees that fell into their lap through the Lehman bankruptcy. In 2007, Nomura agreed to pay the headhunter £50,000/mo plus a minimum of 25% of the first year’s pay for each person Nomura retained. But in the era of trying to get something for nothing, Hogarth believes they should earn their standard fee for placing the executives Nomura took on anyway when they acquired Lehman’s Asian and European operations and is filing a lawsuit.

“There is a dispute about the extent of Hogarth Davies Lloyd’s role in the Lehman Brothers’ acquisition and the fee that is properly due,” said Stephen Sidebottom, Nomura’s head of human resources for Europe, in an e-mailed statement today. “The claim is misconceived and Hogarth Davies Lloyd is seeking a commercially absurd sum.”

By now you’d think executive search firms would know banks accept bailouts, governments provide them.

$$$ Regulators urged Citi to replace CFO [FT]
$$$ Bogus Tax Returns [GC]
$$$ The Final Nail in Bob Guccione’s Coffin [Cityfile]
$$$ Paul Krugman vs. Niall Ferguson [Daily Intel]

If you believe Pali Capital, Goldman may not have the balls to pay its people so they can make it rain with $100s, not $50s. As part of the firm’s rationale behind its GS upgrade from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’, Pali said there may be a fourth quarter fade in cash earmarked for bonus day.

In their report, Pali’s analysts predicted that Goldman might choose to set aside 40 to 50 percent less cash in the fourth quarter for employees as a result of what they described as compensation “complaining” and political pressure surrounding this hot-button issue.

We’re not sure if Pali was serious about this or is baiting Goldman to prove them wrong and guarantee a New Year’s Day cage match between Lloyd & Mad Max.
Analysts See Upside in Lower Goldman Bonuses [Dealbook]

The insurance industry is currently hoping for a late summer rally of its own- in multi-billion dollar, hurricane-related destruction. After suffering through three years without an epic success like Hurricane Katrina, insurers are getting a little anxious that it’s mid-August and the death and destruction counter from tropical storms this year is barely registering.

“If there are no major storms, more capacity will become available and prices will start to come down,” Shivan Subramaniam, chief executive of commercial property insurer FM Global, said in an interview…Subramaniam estimated that a storm must incur between $9 billion and $10 billion in insured losses to convince already strapped customers they need to pay more for coverage.

Just what the world needs now- mother nature giving AIG another bailout.
Thanks to a DB reader, a good example of what the insurance companies are crossing their fingers for follows after the jump.

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He’s on “hiatus” for the forseeable future (two weeks, though anything could happen).

Several of you have emailed us today wondering if you’re getting fired. The short answer, in our professional opinion: no, probably not. Apparently a bunch of the Queen’s bitches have been made nervous by the uncharacteristic sight of the London bosses in Stamford this afternoon. But you needn’t be, chippies. Not sure why this wasn’t made clear but the visits are merely those friendly chats known as annual reviews, which were previously scheduled for March but put off due to extenuating circumstances. Those who’ve been through already report the experience was relatively painless and that it was actually something of an ass kissing session in an attempt to keep those who survived the guttings several months back happy. So get in there and milk it. You could probably get away with anything you want, and even some stuff you never agreed on beforehand without much argument. (Note: I suppose if your review didn’t go well you could conceivably be looking at a “pack up your shit and don’t come back” meeting down the road but it’s unlikely, if you’ve made it this far. In sum, we spent the last couple days live-blogging tits and dick sizes, so there has to be someone in your office who’d know better than us.)

Well that didn’t take long. Only months after getting a stay of execution, cost conscious and always timely General Motors is using a self-described “uptick” in sales on the heels of cash for clunkers to fire up production (and overtime pay) to prepare for the furious recovery in the auto market. While economists debate meaningless things like unemployment, availability of credit, and income growth, the government’s auto prostitution program was all auto consulting firms and the new GM needed to see to flip the switch back to the ‘overproduction’ position.

“They’re probably seeing some demand that goes beyond what they would deem a boost just from cash-for-clunkers,” said Erich Merkle, president of Grand Rapids, Michigan, consulting firm Autoconomy. “There are signs this economy is going to improve fairly quickly.”

And on a related note:

The dramatic jump in auto sales attributed to the “cash for clunkers” incentive program is fading fast, according to Edmunds.com, which said automotive purchase intent slid 31% from its peak in late July

Who says lightening never strikes the same place twice?