Opening Bell: 03.23.11

US Will Call Blankfein To Testify At Rajaratnam Trial (Bloomberg)
Possibly as early as this week.

In Galleon Case, Sides Clash Over Goldman Chief (WSJ)
"Rajaratnam might suggest, for example, that because Goldman Sachs is tied up in many different legal proceedings, the firm—and by extension its CEO, Mr. Blankfein—is not to be trusted," prosecutors wrote in the letter. A Goldman spokesman declined to comment.

Banks Hit For Credit Union Ills (WSJ)
In one of the broadest accusations that Wall Street helped cripple financial institutions during the crisis, the National Credit Union Administration, or NCUA, has threatened to sue several investment banks unless they refund over $50 billion of mortgage-backed securities sold to the five institutions, called wholesale credit unions. The NCUA is accusing Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch unit, Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. of misrepresenting the risks of the bonds to wholesale credit unions, which loaded up on the bonds in their role of investing on behalf of retail credit unions, according to people familiar with the situation.

Dimon Makes $20 Billion AT&T Loan Deal In Bid For Dominance (Bloomberg)
“He wants to win, and he doesn’t want to win by a small amount,” Richard Bove, an analyst for Rochdale Securities LLC in Lutz, Florida, said yesterday in an interview. “He wants to win big and dominant. He wants to be known as the next J.P. Morgan.” Bove has a “buy” rating on JPMorgan.

Fed Won't Let Bank Of America Raise Dividend (WSJ)
Bank of America said in a regulatory filing it had submitted a plan to the Fed in the wake of the latest round of government stress tests that included "a modest increase in its common dividend starting in the second half of 2011," but that the Fed had "objected to the proposed increase in capital distributions for the second half of 2011."

Gaddafi: West Will End in 'Dustbin of History' (Reuters)
"This assault ... is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin of history," Gaddafi said in a speech followed by fireworks in the Libyan capital as crowds cheered and supporters fired guns into the air.

Chris Brown follows violent breakdown on 'Good Morning America' with game of basketball in NYC (NYDN)
Chris Brown blew off some steam on Tuesday after his violent outburst at "Good Morning America" by jumping into a pick-up basketball game in Manhattan's West Village. The volatile rapper hit the typically crowded West 4th street courts just hours after throwing a tantrum at ABC's studios following his interview with Robin Roberts, who asked him about his infamous attack on former girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. Earlier in the day, Brown had stormed out of ABC's Times Square studios shirtless after breaking a window. "He looked like he wanted to kill somebody," said a "GMA" insider. "He went completely nuts. He just walked off the set, ripped off his shirt and went into the room and threw a chair and broke the window."

Banks Bring Jobs To London As Finance Pays Most Tax In UK (Bloomberg)
Goldman Sachs employs almost as many people in London today as it did in 2007, before Lehman Brothers filed for the biggest bankruptcy in history, sparking a global recession. Goldman isn’t alone. Royal Bank of Scotland, recipient of the world’s biggest bank bailout, has more workers in its securities unit than four years ago. Barclays Capital, under Robert Diamond, hired 1,800 in 2010.

Radiation in Tokyo Water; US Curbs Japan Food Imports (Reuters)
Tokyo authorities said water at a purification plant for the capital of 13 million people had 210 becquerels of radioactive iodine — more than twice the safety level for infants. "This is without doubt, an effect of the Fukushima Daiichi plant," a Tokyo metropolitan government official said, referring to the nuclear power station.

UBS Risks Running Out Of Steam In Asia (FT)
UBS’s Asian franchise had already taken a hit in mid-2010 when Henry Cai, its leading investment banker in China, unexpectedly quit. Mr Cai and several of his colleagues subsequently turned up at Deutsche Bank. In a further blow, the Swiss bank failed to win a role in two of the biggest China deals last year – the $22.1bn initial public offering of Agricultural Bank of China, which had a total gross fee pool of about $142m, and Bank of China’s $9bn rights issue.

Buffett Looks Beyond Home Turf To India (WSJ)
Mr. Buffett said that he sees India as a large country--rather than an emerging market, and a promising investment destination, but added it would be more attractive for his company to invest in the local insurance sector if current foreign ownership restrictions are relaxed beyond the 26% levels.