Warren’s Son Howard Buffett Says Don’t Expect Third Generation At Berkshire (Bloomberg)
Also, there’s this: “I checked with Howie; he told me CTB was an absolute first-class company,” Warren Buffett said in remarks posted on CTB’s website. “Howie would rather spend an evening on a tractor in the field than a date with Angelina Jolie, which is not true of all members of the family, but that’s true of Howie.”
Bankers Ignored Signs Of Foreclosure Trouble (NYT)
At Citigroup and GMAC, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on home foreclosures was outsourced to frazzled workers who sometimes tossed the paperwork into the garbage. At JPMorgan Chase, they were derided as “Burger King kids” — walk-in hires who were so inexperienced they barely knew what a mortgage was. And at Litton Loan Servicing, an arm of Goldman Sachs, employees processed foreclosure documents so quickly that they barely had time to see what they were signing. “I don’t know the ins and outs of the loan,” a Litton employee said in a deposition last year. “I’m not a loan officer.”
6 Women Accuse Citi Of Gender Bias (Dealbook)
“The outdated ‘boys club’ is alive and well at Citigroup, where women are denied equal terms and conditions of employment that are provided to similarly situated male employees,” the lawsuit said. “As a result of this ‘boys club,’ men dominate the senior ranks of Citigroup’s management and executive positions.” Five of the six women who brought the suit worked in the public finance department within the bank’s municipal securities division and were among those laid off in November 2008, when Citigroup cut more than a tenth of its work force in the midst of the financial crisis.
Dividend Rock: Firms Reward Buyout Bosses (WSJ)
So far in October, private-equity owned companies paid out nearly $1.7 billion in dividends while adding about $4.6 billion of new debt, according to Standard & Poor’s LCD. That is on pace to top the $2.3 billion monthly record in April 2007. This month’s activity comes on the heels of nearly $2 billion of such dividends in each of the last two months, S&P LCD said.
JPMorgan Slashes Investment Bank Bonus Pool as Revenue Drops (Bloomberg)
For the first nine months of the year, JPMorgan set aside 39 percent of the investment-bank’s revenue to pay employees, compared with 38 percent a year ago. “These people will be compensated and compensated well but it’s not going to be the amounts it would be if they generated more revenue,” Branthover said.
UBS Won’t Act Against Ex-Bosses (WSJ)
The banks said it made mistakes during the financial crisis, particularly in the investment-banking area, but said it won’t take legal proceedings against its previous management. “What happened shouldn’t have been allowed to happen, and with our decision to refrain from legal proceedings, we don’t want to gloss over the mistakes made by UBS or absolve those involved of their corporate responsibility,” said Chairman Kaspar Villiger. In its review of the events during the financial market crisis, UBS said its investment banking growth strategy wasn’t properly planned, and this was a “significant” contributor to its losses.
U.S. tip-off sparks $159 million cocaine seizure (AP)
“If we want to dismantle organized crime we must attack the money flow, we must attack their income source,” Home Affairs and Justice Minister Brendan O’Connor told reporters. “This is a great blow landed today, landed this week, by our law enforcement agencies.” Continue reading »
