$$$ Libya-Owned Bank Drew at Least $5 Billion From Fed [Bloomberg]
$$$ In testimony on Thursday, former Galleon portfolio manager Adam Smith acknowledged that the hedge fund had been awash with speculation about a possible merger of chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices and ATI Technologies months before the announcement of a $5.4 billion deal on July 24, 2006. But Smith said: “The speculation was public. The fact that it was happening was not public.” [Reuters]
$$$ Falcone-backed telecom hires Ed “We’re a nation of wusses” Rendell to lobby for LightSquared [Reuters]
$$$ “We need to get the owners of banks to behave like they own them. Institutions are turning over their bank shares every six months or so. They don’t consider themselves owners. I think we should get capital requirements up in the future but allow them to grow at the moment, and in the meantime make sure shareholders own shares for longer and engage with management. The job of policing management shouldn’t be left to the government. It should be the owners that do that. But we lost that. Again, maybe we need another tax to make shareholders hang on longer. I would call it the Warren Buffett Tax.” [Fortune]
$$$ Moody’s Cuts Tepco’s Credit Rating [WSJ] Continue reading »
Once, five times, same diff no diff. Continue reading »
As several of you have pointed out, this whole David Sokol/Lubrizol/Berkshire incident would’ve never been an issue, nor would Sokol have had to resign, if BRK had a similar best bid/charitable donation “tax” policy in place, similar to the one recently instituted at the most majestic hedge fund in all the land. Continue reading »
If you’re a person who’s living in the past, you were probably very excited to hear that the Federal Reserve would today be releasing secret loan documents detailing who was in some trouble several years ago and who was in some big trouble, in case you were unable to hazard a guess. The Fed originally wasn’t going to share any information, having denied Bloomberg’s request for the details almost three years ago, but was forced to do so under court order. They really didn’t want to but after the Supreme Court said last month they must, everyone came around and said you know what? Sure thing. Happy to do it. You want documents? You’re gonna get ‘em. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Continue reading »
According to the PIMCO CEO: “Bill [Gross] and I–we do not consider ourselves elite. In fact, we’d like to be taxed more. I said this even before the Middle East started: It is not in the interest of any society for income inequality to keep on going up. It is in everybody’s interest to avoid the extremes.” Continue reading »
The SEC has put out a statement that the regulator does not view the David Sokol/Berkshire Hathaway/Lubrizol incident as an “urgent matter” in need of their attention, according to the Journal.
As you may have heard, yesterday afternoon Warren Buffett announced the resignation of top lieutenant David Sokol, thought to be the frontrunner to take over Berkshire Hathaway when Buffett retires. In his statement, Buffett disclosed that Sokol bought himself a bunch of shares of Lubrizol before suggesting Berkshire make an investment, which they ultimately did. Buffett says to his knowledge nothing “unlawful” happened, though he’s more than likely a little pissed that Sokol’s actions have resulted in 9,197 stories in the last 12 hours about whether or not “the Berkshire brand has been damaged.” Other than yesterday’s press release, Buffett hasn’t made any further statements on the matter. He probably will feel the need to at some point but at this time may himself not even know what to say. He’s struggling for the words and could use some help. Well help is on the way. Continue reading »
Ken Griffin has decided to liquidate Citadel’s $200 million mortgage fund, after its portfolio manager quit the firm. Apparently Bill King’s departure (following the promotion of Glenn Perillo to co-manager) caused investors to ask for a sizable amount of their money back. [Bloomberg]
Supposedly the three Citi officials were “angered” by the customer contesting his credit card bill. Continue reading »
As is widely known at this point, Jon Corzine left Goldman Sachs in January 1999, after serving as co-CEO with Hank Paulson. JSC didn’t leave of his of volition so much as he was pushed by his colleague, who’d convinced the management committee it was the right thing to do while Corzine was skiing with his family over Christmas. In his upcoming book, “Goldman’s Alpha War,” author William Cohan explores what exactly it was about Corzine that rubbed Hank the wrong way. One major event that grinded Paulson’s gears was when Jon “initiated talks about a merger with Mellon Bank,” without notifying anyone first, which Paulson knew would anger the management committee (a “major political misstep” HP used to nail JSC to the wall). But more generally, Paulson just didn’t like the cut of Corzine’s jib, especially when it came to JSC’s allegedly insatiable appetite to expand the franchise.
Paulson says Cohan he didn’t focus on their differences at first. “When you’re boiling in oil, in the middle of a crisis, the challenges are so consuming there is no time for anything else,” he says. But as business improved and an I.P.O. loomed, Corzine’s desire to expand the firm irritated Paulson. “Jon wanted to do business in every country, everywhere, and wanted to be big,” one partner says. “He was like the guy going through a cafeteria, and he wanted to take everything and put it on his tray. That concerned people.” “The differences between Corzine and me became huge,” Paulson tells Cohan. “I was tired of bumping my head against a wall.”
He was also tired of-and frankly, grossed out by- this image running through his head every time Corzine walked into his office. Continue reading »
Someone who can relate.
A London-based banker has written to the Financial Times with a problem related to her hotness. She says:
I know that you will think this problem is mad, but I fear I’m too good looking for corporate life. As a student I used my looks to make money modelling, but now that I’m in the City I feel they are holding me back. Female colleagues distrust me, while male colleagues are drawn to me, but don’t take me very seriously. My boss has told me that I need to network more. But I find networking events are ghastly, with all the eager men dribbling over me. What can I do, short of turning up to work in a bin liner?
Banker, female, 27
Continue reading »
