Feds: Insider Scheme Spanned 17 Years (WSJ)
The alleged scheme revealed on Wednesday stretched back to 1994, when Mr. Kluger allegedly told the co-conspirator while attending law school at New York University and after taking a summer associate job at Cravath that “I’ve got something,” meaning he had access to confidential information, prosecutors said. The co-conspirator then approached Mr. Bauer, whom he had worked with in the 1990s at venture capital firm Weiss, Peck & Greer. Mr. Bauer agreed to trade based on the information provided, prosecutors said. “They structured their relationship so that Bauer and Kluger did not have direct contact prior to the trades,” said Daniel M. Hawke, the regional director for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Philadelphia office.
Portugal Bailout May Reach $129 Billion (WSJ)
“The talk is for around €75 billion, but this could be raised to around €90billion. A bailout package can be put together very quickly as there has already been preparatory work in anticipation of Portugal’s request,” said the minister, who asked not to be identified.
Moody’s May Take Axe To UK Bank Ratings (Reuters)
Up to 18 British banks could see their senior debt ratings cut several notches by Moody’s over coming months as the rating agency assesses how they would fare without implicit government support. The banks more immediately vulnerable to a downgrade are smaller institutions, including many building societies, rather than larger banks still heavily supported by the state, Moody’s said Thursday.
The Valley’s Banker Returns To The Top (NYT)
Andrew Ross Sorkin: “I’d really prefer you didn’t write about me,” Mr. Quattrone said recently, trying to dissuade me from this column. But it is hard to ignore Mr. Quattrone. In the last year, his boutique advisory firm, Qatalyst Partners, has been involved in nearly every major technology merger. As Hewlett-Packard and Dell battled over 3Par last summer, Mr. Quattrone was calling the shots. He orchestrated the sale of Palm to H.P. for $1.2 billion in April 2010. And Texas Instruments’ $6.5 billion deal to buy National Semiconductor this week? Yes, that was his deal, too.
ECB Raises Interest Rates (WSJ)
The European Central Bank on Thursday raised its benchmark interest rate to 1.25% from a historic low of 1%, as expected, making it the first of the developed world’s major central banks to initiate a cycle of raising rates.
A Hot Idea Falls Short At Goldman (WSJ)
Goldman spent millions of dollars to develop the private exchange, and senior Goldman bankers spent over a year on the project. They gave it an awkward name—the “GS Tradable Unregistered Equity OTC Market” or GSTrUE—but it seemed like an instant success. Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management LLC raised about $1 billion in May 2007, selling a 15% stake in itself on the Goldman market. Two months later, Apollo Management LP, the big New York private-equity firm, also sold shares, raising $895 million. Many bankers expected the new market to steal some of the hottest offerings from the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. Private-equity firms, hedge funds and others that guarded their privacy seemed likely to sell shares there. At the time, Oaktree partners Howard Marks and Bruce Karsh predicted in a memo to clients that “a number of premier companies in other industries” would join their firm on the Goldman platform. Rival banks and exchanges soon launched competing private markets. Then a curious thing happened—hardly any investors showed up.
Sailor, 85, crosses Atlantic on raft with friends (MSNBC)
A stroke of bad luck for Anthony Smith paid for the trip (he was hit by a van and broke his hip). “I got some compensation money,” he said. “So what do you blow the compensation money on? You blow it on a raft.” Continue reading »
