Opening Bell: 4.5.16
Valeant Says No More Restatements, to File 10-K by April 29 (Bloomberg)
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. said a special ad hoc board committee has found no additional accounting issues at the company that would require more restatements, and that it plans to file its annual report on or before April 29.
Goldman Profit Estimates Cut Again as Analysts Project 45% Drop (Bloomberg)
Twenty-two analysts have lopped 94 cents off the average estimate for Goldman Sachs’s adjusted earnings per share over the past four weeks -- the fourth straight quarter they’ve cut figures in the final days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This time, the 11th-hour reduction is among the largest for the firm since the financial crisis, with analysts now predicting its per-share profit will tumble 45 percent from a year earlier to $3.31 -- the steepest decline among major U.S. banks.
Panama Has Company as Bank-Secrecy Holdout, as U.S. Offers Haven (Bloomberg)
Panama and the U.S. have at least one thing in common: Neither has agreed to new international standards to make it harder for tax evaders and money launderers to hide their money.
Hedge Funds Sue to Freeze Puerto Rico Bank’s Assets (Dealbook)
A group of hedge funds asked a federal court in San Juan on Monday to freeze the assets of Puerto Rico’s powerful Government Development Bank, claiming it was insolvent and appeared to be spending what cash it had left to prop up other parts of the island’s troubled government. The bank had failed to provide financial information that creditors were entitled to under federal law, the hedge funds said in a lawsuit. They asked the United States District Court in San Juan to bar further cash transfers by the bank, other than those essential to the safety and well-being of the island’s residents.
There’s a secret ‘sex island’ for married people who just want to cheat (NYP)
IllicitEncounters.com is a dating website for married people, and it’s confirmed it is buying an island for the use of those having affairs. At the moment, the island is known as Illicit Retreat and it’s about 100 miles from Portsmouth, on England’s south coast. There are flash apartments dotted all over it, each boasting bedrooms, a dining room and Jacuzzi. Holidaymakers will be whizzed onto the island in a helicopter, all in an effort to ensure they aren’t busted with their lover. It will eliminate the possibility of getting caught with receipts for trains or buses, or a big jump in miles on your car’s odometer that might raise suspicion. The company will even blindfold people so the island’s location remains a secret, and non-disclosure agreements will be issued.
Ex-State Street executives charged in U.S. for defrauding clients (Reuters)
U.S. prosecutors announced charges on Tuesday against two former State Street executives for scheming to defraud six clients, including Irish and British government pension funds, through secret commissions on billions of dollars of trades. Ross McLellan, a former State Street executive vice president, was arrested on charges including securities fraud and wire fraud, prosecutors said. The indictment was filed in federal court in Boston, where the custody bank is based.
New Rules on Tax Inversions Threaten Pfizer-Allergan Deal (WSJ)
The Treasury Department imposed tough new curbs on corporate inversions Monday, shocking Wall Street and throwing into doubt the $150 billion merger between Pfizer Inc. and Allergan PLC, which was on track to be the biggest deal of its kind. The Treasury move, which was more aggressive than anticipated, sent Allergan’s shares tumbling 19% in after-hours trading and could stall a trend in corporate deal-making that has seen companies searching for ways to escape the U.S. tax net.
Hedge fund didn’t disclose Halliburton stakes ahead of merger: DOJ (NYP)
Activist hedge fund investor Jeffrey Ubben failed to disclose in a timely manner his stakes in oil-services giants Halliburton and Baker Hughes while trying to influence a merger between the two companies, the Department of Justice charged in a lawsuit on Monday.
Large alligator found trying to enter front door of mobile home (UPI)
Authorities in Florida shared a photo of a resident's heart-stopping discovery -- a 9-foot alligator propping itself up against his front door. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter Friday a Plant City man called 911 on March 27 to report the large gator was camped out on his front porch. Sheriff's deputies arrived at the home with a licensed trapper and snapped a picture of the alligator climbing the porch stairs and propping itself up against the man's front door. The alligator, initially estimated by the homeowner to be about 8 feet long, measured a more impressive 9 feet, 5 inches long.