Insider Trading Probe Sends Clients Fleeing Without Arrests (Bloomberg)
“The practical reality is that if everyone else is going to pull out, then you have to pull out,” said Craig Slaughter, executive director of the West Virginia Investment Management Board, which had $50 million of its $12.5 billion in assets invested with Level Global. “When the feds knock on your door, it’s game over,” said Brad Alford, head of Alpha Capital Management LLC in Atlanta, which invests in hedge and mutual funds on behalf of wealthy clients. “Integrity is all you have in this business.”

Roubini: ECB April Rate Hike Would Be A ‘Mistake’ (CNBC)
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said Thursday a rate hike in April was possible but not certain and revived the bank’s old coded warning of monetary tightening by using the phrase “strong vigilance,” often heard during the tightening cycle between 2005 and 2007. “In my view that’s a mistake … I think that the ECB is rushing too fast into hiking rates,” Roubini said in an interview.

Madoff Trustee, ‘Net’ Winners Face Off (WSJ)
Former investors of Bernard Madoff and a trustee recovering money after his giant Ponzi scheme argued before an appellate panel Thursday over who constitutes a victim entitled to claim losses in the fraud. The judges grilled attorneys for the investors on whether to uphold a decision by the trustee, Irving Picard, to approve claims based on how much of an investor’s principal deposits with Mr. Madoff were lost, or whether Mr. Picard should instead use the much higher final account statements fabricated by Mr. Madoff.

Fired workers burn Indian executive to death (AP)
Indian police detained two people after an angry mob of fired workers burned to death a senior executive of a steel factory, an official said Friday. After learning they were laid off, about a dozen workers attacked a vehicle carrying Radhey Shyam Roy as he was leaving the factory in eastern Orissa state on Thursday, dousing the Jeep with gasoline and setting it on fire, said police Superintendent Ajay Kumar Sarangi.

Banks Face More Loan Writedowns (WSJ)
Most loan modifications have focused primarily on reducing monthly payments by lowering the borrower’s interest rate and extending the loan term. The code of conduct would require banks to first consider reducing loan balances in certain instances before modifications or foreclosure. Those new terms are a “big deal,” one person who saw the document said.

Merkel Risks Clash Over Irish Bailout in Euro Rescue Push (Bloomberg)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is resisting calls to ease Ireland’s bailout terms, underscoring the gulf on crisis-fighting steps that persists even among political allies.

Chase Take On Madoff: $907 Million (NYP)
JPMorgan Chase made $907 million in pretax profit from deposits held at the bank by imprisoned Ponzi scheme operator Bernard L. Madoff, a study said. The Madoff firm’s balances in its JPMorgan account generated the profit from 1986 to 2008, according to Linus Wilson, an assistant finance professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. A JPMorgan spokesman, declined to comment.