$$$ Stanford’s daughter Randi argued in court papers that she is entitled to stay in the 2,800 square foot condo because it was a gift from her father, who is accused of leading a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Randi Stanford said the condo is not part of the allegedly tainted assets seized by the government and accused the receiver in control of her dad’s businesses of “Gestapo-like tactics.” [ABC]
$$$ Hedge Fund Returns Mirror Broader Markets In ’09 [FINalternatives]
$$$ Take the eFinancialCareers Bonus and Compensation survey [eF]
$$$ Paulson & Co. returned 14% to 34% in 2009, depending on the strategy, according to a recent update the firm sent to investors [MarketWatch]
Archive for January 2010
Former SAC Analyst Jonathan Hollander May Have Played Role In Blackstone Insider Trading Case
By Bess Levin
Apparently it was SAC that brought the 411 to the government. Matthew Goldstein reports:
A year ago, federal regulators accused a former Blackstone Group investment banker, Ramesh Chakrapani, of tipping off a friend — referred to as “tippee 1″ in a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint — about the 2006 buyout of the Albertsons supermarket chain.
Until now the identity of that friend has been a mystery. But Reuters has learned from three people familiar with the Chakrapani case that he is Jonathan Hollander, a 34-year-old former analyst at SAC. The sources also confirmed that the firm where the trading in question took place in January 2006 is CR Intrinsic Investors, an SAC subsidiary. In court papers, regulators contend that the Albertsons tip resulted in a series of trades that generated $91,000 in profits for the friend and his parents, as well as $3.5 million in trading profits for his firm.
TCW Group Sues Former CIO Jeffrey Gundlach For Having Drugs, Pornos And 12 “Sexual Devices” In Office
By Bess LevinThe firm had some other issues with Gundlach, who was fired on December 4, as well (he’s being accused of conspiracy, unfair competition and theft of proprietary TCW information) but we figured this should discussed ASAP, as some of you may have some things you need to dispose of from your desk, in the event that your employer also frowns up this sort of thing. No word on a rebuttal from JG or his representation, but presumably he’ll have good reason for the Backdoor Sluts 9 DVD, the “videocassettes” (they’re vintage) and an itemized list of said “devices.” We need to know what does and doesn’t fly (vibrators, yes, ball gags, no, spreader and truss bar debatable?).
Back in December, Goldman Sachs put a 14-page presentation on its website detailing the metrics they use to award compensation (naturally, it’s by scrot-size). They didn’t have to, but because they care deeply for their shareholders, wanted to just, you know, be up front about everything. No more secrets, no more bull shitting, just straight up open and honest communication. It was a pretty huge step for Lloyd and his backup dancers, who figured it’d score them some major points, and ward off any potential chance of being put in the dog house over making it rain ka-ching! on their employees faces without discussing it first. And yet! Today some ungrateful pissant of a shareholder, Ken Brown, taking a cue from the Village People, has sued the bank over what he characterizes as “a waste of the company’s assets and a breach of duty and loyalty.”
The so-called derivative suit, brought on behalf of a Goldman Sachs shareholder Ken Brown, an Illinois resident, was filed in state court in New York on Jan. 5, alleging breach of duty and loyalty. The suit seeks unspecified damages and lawyer fees and asks the court to direct the defendants, including Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein and company directors, to account for “all profits and special benefits they have obtained,” Brown says, “including all salaries, bonuses, fee stock awards, options and stock sales.”
Peter Orszag Has A “Secret” Love Child, Is A Brute, Some People Would Like Us To Believe
By Bess Levin
We’re a little bit late to this, because for the most part we don’t care about the love-lives of White House budget directors but whatevs: according the Post Peter Orszag has a “secret” love child, “secret” only because no one at the paper knew about the baby, and presumably not because he has the kid and the mother hiding out in some seedy part of town where no one can find them. Besides being pissed that they weren’t invited to the birth, the moral crusaders are also upset because there’s a possibility Pedro knocked up the mother, Claire Milonas, last spring, and then left her to shack up with ABC’s Bianna Golodryga, who he was engaged to six weeks after the baby was born.
Last June, Citi was supposed to pay five former senior executives millions in severance payouts, but what the bank decided to do, instead, was not make those payment. The ex-employees were owed about $100 million (half of which had been paid out) but not wanting to be compared to AIG which, at the time, was in the midst of receiving death threats over bonuses, Citi chose to inform the group that it shouldn’t count on the remainder of the cash. The Big C was apparently counting on everyone just forgetting about the whole thing but surprise! At least one of the stiffed guys, Kevin Kessinger, would still in fact like his money. Here’s what he’s doing about it:
Most of your meetings for work are probably obscenely painful experiences, particularly for those of you who detest your colleagues and especially for the lucky few who’ve been banned from fucking around on your Blackberry while people are talking. All that’s left to do is zone out, or sigh audibly while presentations are being made, and if everyone is taking a page from your playabook, not a lot is getting done. So! A few companies have come up with some ways for making these sessions more productive, and less wastes of your time. Some of them suck, like have people write down ideas on Post-its and then announcing them anonymously so no one is scared to come up with what might be perceived as a dumb suggestion, or asking employees to take crayons and draw their contributions, and then getting pissed when a go-getter comes back with illustrations of the boss and some barnyard animals. Others, while due for some tweaking, aren’t half bad:
Dixon Schwabl Advertising Inc., in Rochester, N.Y., tries to lower the inhibitions of its 82 employees by arming them with water guns, which workers are instructed to bring to all meetings. Anyone who passes a negative comment at the meeting is bound to get wet.
Over the companies out of his jurisdiction, though he’s closing his eyes and hoping for the best, i.e. that banks which don’t have to do what he says will decide on their own to take an ax to executive pay.
“The biggest disappointment, I think, is that under the statute my jurisdiction is so narrow, and so circumscribed, that I have no real direct mandatory power over other Wall Street or other national companies,” Feinberg said today in an interview with Bloomberg special contributor Judy Woodruff. “I have my fingers crossed that we have developed some guidelines, some compensation prescriptions that will be emulated,” Feinberg said.
Feinberg Says Lack of Pay Authority Is Disappointment [Bloomberg]
30 Year-Old French Girl Maxime Carmignac Being Groomed To Take Over Billionaire Father’s Firm
By Bess Levin
The Journal doesn’t say whether or not she’s single but let’s assume yes and hope this is your shot to be made the house-husband of a loaded French lady. Here’s what we know about Maxie:
* Age: 30
* Daughter of the founder and chairman of €33 billion ($47.3 billion) French asset manager Carmignac Gestion, Edouard Carmignac
* Spent the last two years working outside the family biz, “analyzing U.S. retail and consumer companies at Visium Asset Management in New York, and looking at the European energy sector on a consulting basis for Cheyne Capital in London,” jobs that she said she got on her own.
From the mailbag:
“At year end Dec 2009, GoldenTree faced over a half a billion dollars of redemptions. After gating investors in 2008 for over a year, they finally had to face the music after pressure from its LPs who were tired of being locked up.
Geithner’s New York Fed Told AIG to Limit Swaps Disclosure (Bloomberg)
Apparently there was some stuff TG preferred to keep on the DL: “AIG said in a draft of a regulatory filing that the insurer paid banks, which included Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Societe Generale SA, 100 cents on the dollar for credit-default swaps they bought from the firm. The New York Fed crossed out the reference, according to the e-mails, and AIG excluded the language when the filing was made public on Dec. 24, 2008. The e-mails were obtained by Representative Darrell Issa, ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.”
Dubai World says debt revamp plan “some time away” (Reuters)
A report in Alrroya newspaper quoted an unidentified banking source saying Dubai World would “answer its creditors electronically today (Thursday).” A spokeswoman responded, “The story is erroneous. We are some time away from presenting a restructuring plan,” adding that the next step in the discussions between the debt-laden company and its creditors would be to agree to a standstill.
Wynn, Wife Split Casino Stock as Part of Divorce (AP)
Wynn transferred control of $741 million worth of his stock (more than 11 million shares) in Wynn Resorts Ltd. to his (ex) wife, Elaine, as part of a divorce settlement.
We Must Rehabilitate Risk: France’s Lagarde (CNBC)
She also warned of two imbalances which were part of the reason the crisis was so deep: “the balance of payments imbalance and monetary imbalances.”
