Protestors will attempt to surround the New York Stock Exchange on the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, according to Reuters. Looking to meet up with some like-minded people? Want to know which intersections to avoid? Go here, for the tactical map.
The Winklevoss twins are disrupting the sell side, or Read More
The Federal Reserve said it will buy $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities each month forever, or until the U.S. job market perks up. This third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, is relatively small to the $1.25 trillion-a-month bond-buying program launched in March 2009 or the Fed’s $600 billion-a-month buying spree beginning November 2010, Read More
Standard Chartered, the British bank that agreed to pay a New York State regulator $340 million to settle charges that it violated U.S. sanctions with Iran, is nearing a settlement with the U.S. Treasury and Manhattan district attorney, according to The New York Times. The anticipated deal will likely cost Standard Chartered less than its settlement with New York’s Department of Financial Services, because the federal and local authorities view the banks actions less severely than did the state regulator.
A Department of Justice probe into the collapse of MF Global is going nowhere fast, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reports that former CEO Jon Corzine met with federal investigators for the first time last week. Meanwhile, sources tell The Journal that it’s looking more unlikely criminal charges will be filed.
“Many people on Main Street distrust Wall Street right now, yet few can put their finger on why,” said Jamie Raab, publisher of Grand Central, according to The Times.Which is an overwrought explanation for giving former Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith $1.5 million for his book, Why ILeft Goldman Sachs. A simpler reason: People want the dirt. Read More
Morgan Stanley and Citigroup agreed to value Morgan Stanley Smith Barney at $13.5 billion, more than the outside bankers hired to mediate the deal said the joint venture brokerage was worth. According to Bloomberg, Perella Weinberg Partners priced the brokerage at the lower end of the difference between valuations submitted by Morgan Stanley and Citi, which would have resulted in a final price of less than $11.5 billion. The banks agreed on the higher value, however, fixing the price at which Morgan Stanley will acquire Citi’s stake in the partnership. Read More
Morgan Stanley is going to win out over Citigroup when a mediator places a value on the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney brokerage, The New York Post reports. The two banks have disputed the value of the joint venture: Morgan Stanley, which owns 51 percent of the brokerage and plans to acquire remaining shares, said the Read More
JPMorgan’s board of directors is weighing lower bonuses for CEO Jamie Dimon and other top executives in light of the $5.8 billion trading loss the firm suffered this year, according to The Wall Street Journal; Citigroup is also looking at executive pay in an attempt to appease shareholders.
Kweku Adoboli, the former UBS trader charged Read More
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi won wide support from his board for a plan to buy the sovereign debt of euro zone countries. Rates on Spanish 10-year bonds promptly fell to levels last seen in May, and the corresponding Italian bond fell to its lowest since April.
LightSquared, the wireless broadband company backed by Harbinger Capital founder Phil Falcone, is battling with creditors over control of the firm’s bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg. LightSquared has asked a judge to extend a deadline to file a Chapter 11 plan; the creditors say, “Having nothing to lose, Mr. Falcone wants to pursue a high-risk, high-return strategy.” Read More
IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG is suing everybody, or at least it seems that way: the German lender is suing Citigroup and Goldman Sachs over losses of $137.4 million and $73.2 million, respectively, on mortgage-backed securities. In May, the Dusseldorf-based lender sued Bank of America over losses of more than $200 million on mortgage Read More
Mark Zuckerberg won’t sell any more Facebook shares for at least a year, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday, and board members Marc Andreessen and Donald Graham said they have no present plans to unload stock. Board member and early investor Peter Thiel sold about $446 million in Facebook shares after Read More
If you missed it over the weekend, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating the tax practices of private equity firms. At the center of the inquiry is the practice of converting management fees into investments that are taxed at more favorable rates. The private equity industry says such conversions are widely practiced and accepted; here’s a tax lawyer who says they’re illegal. Read More
