$$$ In one of the very rare interesting moments of today’s Q&A session with Ben Bernanke in Atlanta, J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon got a chance to ask Mr. Bernanke a question. “I have a great fear that somebody will write a book that the things we did in the crisis will slow down the recovery,” Mr. Dimon sniffled. He ran through a list of the ways markets have changed since the crisis, saying “most of the bad actors are gone,” that exotic derivatives are gone, lending standards are higher, banks have more liquidity and capital, and boards and regulators are tougher. Hey, Mr. Dimon seemed to suggest, enough is enough. And now on top of it all there are higher capital requirements and 300 new rules coming, and maybe it will all be too much for banks to take. Nice economy you’ve got there, he seemed to say. Shame if anything happened to it. “Has anyone bothered to study the cumulative effect of these things, and do you have the fear, like I do, that when we look at it all, it will be the reason” why banks aren’t lending, he asked. “Is this holding us back at this point?” [WSJ]

$$$ Jamie and Ben Have A Chat (CNBC)

$$$ Private Equity Paying More for Less Experienced Analysts (FINS)

$$$ UBS Pledge To Staff To Compete On Pay (FT, DB)

$$$ China Shorts Under Fire as Companies Sue Blogger (Bloomberg)

$$$ First Charged in Expert-Network Probe to Plead Guilty (WSJ)

$$$ SEC Seeks More Time to Answer Congress on SAC Trades (WSJ)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304474804576371752591979530.html

$$$ HSBC will pay $62.5m to settle Madoff lawsuit (Guardian)

$$$ OPEC Plans to Raise its Oil Production Quota: Sources (CNBC)

$$$ Pickup in Muni Issuance Sparks Hopes of Revival (WSJ)

$$$ Former New York Bank Regulator Joins PricewaterhouseCoopers (DealBook)

$$$ China’s Monetary Policy ‘Suicidal:’ Soc Gen (MarketBeat)

$$$ Cerberus founder sees smaller funds, feels PE overpays (Reuters)

$$$ Merger partners D.Boerse, NYSE dangle a dividend (Reuters)

$$$ In Weiner’s District, Scandal Stirs Little Outrage (Metropolis)

$$$ Medical marijuana superstore opens (Reuters)