Goldman Sachs Threatens Spanish Move (Independent)
Goldman Sachs has threatened the UK Treasury with plans to move up to 20 per cent of its London-based staff to Spain in a standoff over tax and bonuses…A City source said: “Goldman could move a relatively large number of people if it wants to. Given how much Goldman and its staff contribute to the tax take, the firm has plenty of leverage. This is a bargaining position more than anything.
Full Repayment Of Dubai Debt Still Option (Reuters)
The National daily said two top Dubai officials, on a confidence-building mission to Britain and the United States in recent days, told financial leaders in London that repaying all bank loans in full “was discussed as a medium-term possibility.”
Show Us The Email (NYT)
Eliot Spitzer: “We know where the answers are. They are in the trove of e-mail messages still backed up on A.I.G. servers, as well as in the key internal accounting documents and financial models generated by A.I.G. during the past decade. Before releasing its regulatory clutches, the government should insist that the company immediately make these materials public. By putting the evidence online, the government could establish a new form of “open source” investigation.”
UBS, Credit Suisse Said to Face Tougher Rules on Liquid Assets (Bloomberg)
The two largest Swiss banks may have to almost triple the amount of cash they hold in relation to customer deposits under new proposals from Swiss regulators, two people familiar with the matter said.
AIG tough guy’s head-on riposte (FT)
Also, he needs more Me Time: “I need to find the time to go beyond learning wine-making and jogging.”
London Exodus to Geneva Runs Into Housing, School Shortages (Bloomberg)
“It’s a joke, it’s lobbying,” said Tim Dawson, an analyst at Geneva-based brokerage Helvea AG. “People are dreaming if they think the London investment banking world is going to move. There is more office space in Canary Wharf than in the whole of Switzerland,” he said
Archive for December 2009
$$$ HBS Grad Jamie Dimon Showed His Alma Mater No Mercy [DI]
$$$ Making Up For Lost Bonuses [FINS]
$$$ Goldman Loses Its Top Quant [BI]
$$$ Ex. Mrs SAC Alerted FBI Two Years Ago [FINalternatives]
According to ex-con K.C. White, the guy who sketched Bernie’s portrait on the inside. White says the Ponz Master was kind of a prick during the process, trying to tell him how to do his job, like Berns is some sort of an artist himself but they were both prettay prettay prettay pleased with the result, and are hoping it’ll fetch as much as a Charles Manson.
“So the Blackstone ‘family’ party was this morning. There was a green leotard-rocking Santa’s little helper wearing these pointy tap shoe things (kind of hot?) and a life-size Grinch who I’m pretty sure was played by Schwarzman.”
The b-day boy turns 48 today. If you haven’t done so already, I suggest you send over a nice note to the Third Point offices ASAP.
Another €187 billion will vanish over the next couple of weeks, the always-optimistic European Central Bank predicted.
Banks in the euro-zone will write off that much before the end of the year, the ECB reports. That’s about one-third of the total of €553 billion in write-downs predicted between 2007 and next year. Oh, and that estimate is €65 billion higher than the one made by the ECB six months ago.
FYI, Charlie Gasparino Will Meet Or Beat This Offer (By Signing Your Loved One’s Tits)
By Bess Levin
Also, in case it wasn’t clear to the cheapskates in the group, you still have to buy the book. ARS does not give it away for free.
RBS has neither the money nor the reason to celebrate a job well done this year. Last night’s party in Stamford (at the office) was as disappointing as one could expect for a firm whose ass is owned by the UK government (except for the department that took theirs off-site to Foxwoods) and the celebrations across the pond will probably be just as bad, with only 10 pounds ($16) being spent on each employee. Obviously one would expect the people forced to attend these depressing events to be a bit upset, though presumably no one else would give a fuck. Except one. Party planner Di Bailey was asked for her thoughts on the matter and bitch is pissed. She can’t conceive of how RBS could even dream of throwing a soiree on such a tiny budget and is so disgusted that she washes her hands of the whole situation. She wants nothing to do with this thing and until the bank allots the proper amount of money for the gala it so richly deserves, she suggests employees go ice skating.
Di Bailey, managing director at Planit Events Ltd., whose clients include HSBC Holdings Plc and Morgan Stanley, recommends employers spend about 80 pounds-a-head to ensure a “decent” party. Bailey said she couldn’t organize an event at a cost of 10 pounds-per-employee and recommended staff use the money to go ice-skating instead.
Don’t worry, investors, returns are still a’ poppin’. But I cannot in good conscience not let you know that while your money is safe, for now, it’s very likely that your next letter from Chicago is going to be a tear stained one. He’s putting on a brave face, but Ken Griffin is hurting. We’ve just received word that after paying $11.38 million for two lots at the Four Seasons’ Hualalai resort, for the express purpose of being neighbors with Cher, the singer has up and decided to auction off her property next door.
Earth-shattering events happening here.You’re an industry under siege. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic–but especially those on one side, who talk funny and have buried the hatchet over those nasty world wars in an effort to stamp you out–are licking their chops, planning all sorts of horrible new rules. You’re being criticized by, well, everyone, for your secretiveness, lack of transparency, and ties to both the Freemasons and Knights Templar. You’ve become a scapegoat for that whole unpleasant financial crisis thing.
What’s the best possible thing you can do? Bar reporters from your annual confab in tony Key Biscayne, Fla.!
At least, that’s what you’d do if you were the Managed Funds Association, which has decided that now is the perfect time to do away with its 15-year-long policy of welcoming the press to its annual networking shindig.
China sentenced Wu Ying to death for defrauding investors of more than $100 million, the China News Service reported today, citing a court ruling. Wu, born in 1981, raised 773 million yuan ($113 million) with promises of high returns, according to a report by the Beijing-based news service posted to Chinacourt.org, a Web site operated by the Supreme People’s Court of China. The Jinhua Intermediate People’s Court of Zhejiang province ruled Wu’s actions undermined the stability of the nation’s financial system, according to the report.
Wu used a portion of the money for futures trading, racking up 50 million yuan of losses, China News reported. She also spent almost 20 million yuan buying automobiles, including a 3.75 million yuan Ferrari SpA car, according to the report.
Chinese Court Sentences Woman to Death for $113 Million Fraud [Bloomberg]
