Opening Bell: 01.04.10
Lax Oversight Caused Crisis, Bernanke Says (NYT)
The Beard has some thoughts on what went wrong: "Stronger regulation and supervision aimed at problems with underwriting practices and lenders' risk management would have been a more effective and surgical approach to constraining the housing bubble than a general increase in interest rates," Mr. Bernanke said in remarks to the American Economic Association.
Goldman Sachs teams could quit the City over taxes and regulations (Telegraph)
Goldman has asked an internal team to "examine various strategies [to deal with the 50% tax], including whole divisions being uprooted and taken offshore. The review, which is in its very early stages, could also recommend making no changes to the status quo. The review is a blow to government efforts to sustain the Square Mile as a global financial centre."
U.S. considering lesser term for UBS whistleblower (Reuters)
Provided Bradley Birkenfeld has more former colleagues to turn over which he probably does, given that you can't even get your foot in the door without having a high level of expertise in the art of tax dodging.
Small Fund, Big $ (NYP)
Some hedge fund in Hoboken was up 132 percent in 2009. And its founder thinks incentives are "very messed up." Noted.
Whitman to Relinquish Third Avenue Post (WSJ)
Martin J. Whitman will step down as co-chief investment officer (and stay on as co-manager of the flagship fund).
Elin Is Talking $300 Million (NYP)
"When she boasted of the $300 million Christmas gift and then laughed, it was clear to everyone around her that she's more focused than ever about moving on with her life by divorcing him and getting half his fortune, one friend said, as rumors swirled yesterday that her two-timing hubby was holed up at the Trump International on Central Park West."
More Brokers Flee Big Firms, Taking Investors With Them (WSJ)
And setting up their own shops. Sometimes on the DL: "They secretly planned their move for nine months before they left. Mr. Thurber recalls a tense debate in the dining room of one of his partners about whether they could afford to abandon their salaries and bonuses."
BofA's New CEO Makes First Official Address (CNBC)
Brian Moynihan and the bank's mission "is to just plain execute."