Opening Bell: 6.8.15
Deutsche Bank Roiled by Departure of Co-CEOs (WSJ)
Anshu Jain, a longtime investment-banking executive, plans to step down at the end of June. The other co-CEO, Jürgen Fitschen, plans to leave after Deutsche Bank’s annual shareholder meeting next May. They will be replaced by John Cryan, a former UBS AG finance chief. The joint resignations follow a series of financial missteps and regulatory penalties at the giant Frankfurt-headquartered bank. In recent weeks, the pressure has intensified, with an increasing number of shareholders and employees losing confidence in the bank’s performance and the management team’s turnaround plans. People familiar with Mr. Jain’s thinking said the decision to resign came together over the past few weeks.
High Hopes for John Cryan, Deutsche Bank’s New Chief, Known for His Pragmatism (Dealbook)
Davide Serra — a hedge fund manager in London, whose $2.5 billion fund invests in financial service stocks and credit — predicted Mr. Cryan would make significant changes. “I would expect him to raise capital and shrink more aggressively the loss-making empire Anshu has built,” he said. “He is a rational, cold, deep thinker and no show-off,” Mr. Serra said. “The opposite of your stereotype trader and C.E.O. of a big bank.”
Lehman to Pay Barclays $1.3 Billion to Settle Suit (Dealbook)
The trustee overseeing the winding down of Lehman’s brokerage unit said on Friday that the remaining estate would pay $1.28 billion to settle a lawsuit filed by Barclays, the British bank that acquired the bulk of Lehman’s North American brokerage business. The pact, if it wins court approval, would conclude about six years of fighting between Barclays and the trustee, James W. Giddens, over that sale.
Hedge Funds Seek Returns in Japan as China Bubble Concerns Mount (Bloomberg)
Hutchin Hill, Indus Capital Partners and Oasis Management (Hong Kong) are among firms touting winning trades among Japanese power producers, and makers of foods and beverages, and semiconductor parts. A push by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to improve corporate governance has made the market a favorite of hedge funds at the same time as fears that Chinese markets are entering bubble territory mount following gains of as much as 150 percent in the country’s two best-performing stock market indexes during the past year.
Dealbreaker Dramatic Reading Night Returns June 24th (DB)
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Love-Struck Man Says New York Fortuneteller Scammed Him Out Of $700,000 (AP)
The 32-year-old Brooklyn man told police he consulted Delmaro in August 2013 who told him that evil spirits were keeping him from a woman he claimed to love and wanted to be with who did not share his same affections, The New York Times reported. In a statement he and a private investigator presented to detectives last month, the man said that the 26-year-old psychic told him that he and the woman, Michelle, were "twin flames" being kept apart by negativity. Delmaro told him spirits talked to her, so he made multiple payments to her over 20 months, he told investigators. According to the man, those payments included $80,000 for an 80-mile bridge she said would trap evil spirits into another realm, a $30,000 Rolex she claimed would cleanse the sins of his past and $40,064 for a Tiffany diamond ring to "protect his energy," along with other payments totaling as much as $40,000. The man— who has not been identified in court documents —told police he had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars before finding out in February 2014 that Michelle had died. But, the man wrote, Delmaro said she could be reincarnated.
Uber Ends Service in East Hampton After Town Changes Taxi Rules (Bloomberg)
New Yorkers spending time in the Hamptons this summer won’t be able call Uber Technologies Inc. for a ride. The East Hampton town board altered its licensing rules to require every taxi driver to have a physical office in the town. After the change, Uber announced Friday that it was ending operations effective immediately from East Hampton to Montauk, saying it would be “impossible” to comply with the rules.
China’s Dalian Zeus Bids $2.35 Million to Win Lunch With Buffett (Bloomberg)
China’s Dalian Zeus Entertainment Co. offered $2.35 million in an online charity auction to win a lunch meeting with famed investor Warren Buffett. The developer of online video games was the high bidder when the week-long auction wrapped up Friday night in San Francisco, according to the Glide Foundation, beneficiary of the annual event.
Suit claims principal bribed students with strip club field trip (NYP)
A Queens principal allegedly dangled a strip club jaunt to a group of students in 2012 if they focused on their schoolwork, according to a Brooklyn federal suit. The allegation is part of a civil lawsuit from a former staffer at the High School for Community Leadership in Jamaica who claims it was part of a pattern of behavior in which principal Carlos Borrero also encouraged her to wear provocative clothes in order to command attention from her charges. Stacey Long claims she refused to play ball and that she was eventually forced to resign as a literacy teacher, court papers state.