Finance Bill Close To Passage In Senate (WSJ)
Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Olympia Snowe of Maine both said they would vote for the measure when Democrats bring it to a vote, which could happen as soon as this week. Democrats and administration officials believe this gives them the necessary backing to overcome a potential filibuster after weeks of uncertainty and unexpected pitfalls.
Paulson Likes What He Sees In Overhaul (NYT)
“We would have loved to have something like this for Lehman Brothers. There’s no doubt about it,” Mr. Paulson declared about midway into our conversation. He was referring to a provision of the bill known as resolution authority, which would enable the government to unwind a failing investment bank or insurance company in an orderly way without forcing it into bankruptcy, thus avoiding the unintended consequences that a bankruptcy might create.
Bankers – More Unpopular Than Benefit Fraudsters Or Bogus Asylum Seekers (HITC)
‘Sure, we all know that things have to change and that firms have to align bonus payments with long-term performance’, one banker told Here Is The City, ‘But let’s not hear all this nonsense about regaining the public’s trust; we never had the public’s trust in the first place, and thanks to the political rhetoric of the last 2 years, we’ll never be loved. And, let’s face it, given the choice, most of us would rather be hated and bonused up, than hated and poorly paid’.
Abu Dhabi May Make BP Investment, Crown Prince Says (Bloomberg)
“We are still thinking about it,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in an interview in Abu Dhabi today, when asked about potentially buying a stake in the London-based oil producer.
Moody’s Cuts Portugal’s Credit Rating (NYT)
Moody’s said it was cutting Portugal’s sovereign bond ratings to A1 — still investment grade — from Aa2. It noted that the national debt had risen sharply relative to gross domestic product as a result of spending on economic stimulus measures, and it warned that weak growth would weigh on government finances for two or three more years.
HSBC’s Green Says More Shocks Possible (WSJ)
Speaking at the British Bankers’ Association’s annual international banking conference, Mr. Green said he welcomes much of the effort by governments and regulators to improve financial system oversight—including the U.K.’s plan to create a new financial policy committee to try to guard against booms and busts in the economy—but that there’s also a risk that the new order for global supervision could lead to “rigidity, bureaucracy and complexity.” “We are three years in from a crisis that is far from over. We are not out of the woods yet and may see some shocks from countries” that are facing big amounts of debt, Mr. Green said.
George Steinbrenner Has Died From Heart Attack (USA Today)
George Steinbrenner died at about 6:30 a.m. ET today after suffering a heart attack last night. Continue reading »
His time here is almost over but before he takes off for a little maxing and relaxing, the Compensation Cop is apparently thinking about having some fun with bonuses that were paid out that for “the bailout year of 2008″ by all banks that took TARP funds and not just the ones who’ve yet to pay back the blood money. So not just fuck-ups like Citi and Bank of America but also institutions such as, to name a few, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and, gird your loins, Goldman Sachs. Feinberg has just finished a “look back” at the cheddar paid out by those institutions and according to Charlie Gasparino, “does not like what he saw.”
