Opening Bell: 09.21.12
Spain eyes pension reform with aid package in sight (Reuters)
Spain is considering freezing pensions and speeding up a planned rise in the retirement age as it races to cut spending and meet conditions of an expected international sovereign aid package, sources with knowledge of the matter said. The measures would save at least 4 billion euros a year as well as fulfil European Union policy recommendations issued in May which senior euro zone sources said were being used as a blueprint for the terms of a sovereign aid program.
Banker Breakups May Help Spur U.K. Divorce Law Changes (Bloomberg)
The review of U.K. divorce law was triggered in part by the case of German heiress Katrin Radmacher and ex-JPMorgan investment banker Nicolas Granatino, lawyers said. In October 2010, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled for the first time that a U.S.-style pre-nuptial agreement on asset-division, reached before marriage, should be decisive. In London, it’s common for big divorce payouts to go to partners with less money even if that spouse is relatively young, the relationship was brief and there aren’t children, Gallagher’s lawyer, Katie O’Callaghan, said. “People actively try to get divorced in this country because if they are the financially weak party, they can expect a bigger payment,” said O’Callaghan.
Paulson and Co Victimized By Copycat Fraudsters (Forbes)
Starting around December 2010 through November 2011, the John and Jeffrey Fowler solicit investors to wire funds into bank accounts they controlled for investment in a purported gold futures investment program. And not just any gold futures program but one supposedly run by Paulson & Co. Inc. Being imbued with the American spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, the Fowlers created a Florida corporation: Paulson & Co. Inc. (“Paulson-Florida”), through which office space was leased and corporate bank accounts opened. If you didn’t know any better, you might have thought that this Paulson-Florida was one and the same as the real Paulson &Co.Inc. Which of course, appears to have been the Fowlers’ plan. Certainly, it was not John Paulson’s.
Porsche, Daimler Indicate Europe’s Car Crisis Spreading (Bloomberg)
“If a downturn lasts for longer, which this one is, premium is not immune from pricing trends,” said Arndt Ellinghorst, a London-based analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG with an outperform recommendation on BMW, Porsche and VW, and a neutral on Daimler. “The pricing environment in Europe is the biggest problem,” with incentives spreading from Italy, Spain and France to Germany.
Ray Dalio: Big Fan Of Gold (CNBC)
Dalio: I think gold should be a part of-- everybody's portfolio to some degree because-- it diversifies the portfolio. It is the alternative money. We have a situation now where-- when you have too much debt-- too much debt leads to printing of money to make it easier to service. So all of those things mean that some portion-- should be in-- in gold. Andrew Ross Sorkin: Warren Buffett won't touch gold. Dalio: Okay. Yeah. ARS: You think he's wrong? Or clearly you must. Dalio: I think he's making a big mistake, yeah. Gold is my cash. It's an alternative version of cash. So over the long term, it's not the best investment. Over long term, it's-- you know, a little bit better than cash over long term.
Cain says he'd be leading Obama if he were nominee (TGS via DI)
Cain told members of the media after the speech that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's recent “47 percent” comment was a “non-story” being blown out of proportion by the media. But Cain said he would have been doing better if he was the nominee, saying that he'd probably have a “substantial lead” on President Barack Obama at this point. “The reason is quite simple: I have some depth to my ideas,” he said.
US Seeks To Patch Laundering Net (WSJ)
U.S. regulators are proposing to enlist companies across the financial sector—and possibly beyond—as a front-line defense against money laundering. A sweeping proposal by the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCen, could require financial institutions to collect and verify information on all customer accounts. If adopted, the new rules would create a broad new compliance structure that banks and others say would increase costs and add to complexity for the firms and their customers.
Senate JPMorgan Probe Said to Seek Tougher Volcker Rule (Bloomberg)
Staff members of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, headed by Senator Carl Levin, have interviewed JPMorgan officials as well as examiners and supervisors at the institution’s regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the inquiry isn’t public. One focus of the queries is whether JPMorgan’s wrong-way bets on derivatives would have been permitted under regulators’ initial draft of the Volcker ban on proprietary trading, the people said.
Exchanges Catch Heat On Hill Over High Speed Trading (WSJ)
Sens. Jack Reed (D., R.I.) and Mike Crapo (R., Idaho) and several witnesses at the Senate Banking subcommittee hearing took aim at the complex technological tools developed and sold by exchanges to lure the high-speed traders that dominate the stock market and drive exchange profits.
Greek Bailout Fight Looms (WSJ)
All sides, including Athens, are determined to keep Greece in the euro, officials say—they just don't know how yet. The trio must agree to a plan by November at the latest, when the government in Athens—already in financial arrears—could run out of money altogether.
Correction officers at Rikers having ‘rampant’ sex on and off job: lawsuit (NYDN)
Correction officers are turning city jails into their personal playpens, engaging in “rampant” sex both on and off the job, an explosive lawsuit claims. Correction Officer Tomara Bryan charges that male guards face no repercussions for bedding their counterparts — but the frisky females become targets of abuse. Bryan should know. She was one of them, the suit says. Bryan had a stormy two-year affair with a married warden named Emmanuel Bailey — and even had his last name tattooed across her lower back. In the discrimination suit filed in Bronx Supreme Court, Bryan claims that after their kinky relationship came to light she was verbally and physically abused by female supervisors, forced to take a “bogus” random drug test and given dangerous assignments.