By Patrick Clark 8/31/12 8:47am

Morning Read

Barclays New Boss is Not Like Bob Diamond; JPMorgan Still Working on Whale Probe: Roundup

New Barclays boss Antony Jenkins is the only CEO of a global universal bank without a background in investment banking, and according to Bloomberg, the low-profile retail banker is everything that former CEO Bob Diamond wasn’t. Mr. Jenkins, the first in his family to attend university, started his career at Barclays in 1983 and, after a stint at Citi, returned in 2006. Barclays chairman Marcus Agius, expected to step down in the wake of the Libor scandal now that the task of replacing Mr. Diamond is complete, said that Mr. Jenkins stood out in a competitive field of candidates, according to The New York Times. Former U.K. financial services chief Paul Myners told Bloomberg that there were “probably less than four credible candidates, two of whom I know were approached and turned it down almost without any serious consideration.” Read More

By Patrick Clark 7/26/12 11:13am

Whither Europe

condom

There’ll Be 210,187 Fewer Free Condoms for Spanish Prostitutes After Bankia Bust

Let’s see if we can keep this straight: the Spanish banking system is crippled by bad construction loans made in boom-ier times; Spanish government backstops the banks that made those loans; those liabilities drive Spain’s sovereign borrowing costs to new highs; neither austerity measures nor Europe’s pledge to inject 100 billion euros into Spanish banks has arrested rising borrowing costs; which also affects the borrowing costs of regional governments such as that of Valencia; leading the national government to create an 18 billion euro bailout mechanism for the regions; which Valencia and Murcia promptly said they’d tap.

What’s that have to do with prostitutes? Read More

By Patrick Clark 5/28/12 8:30am

Morning Read

NASDAQ

Nasdaq’s Silence Unleashed Facebook IPO Chaos; Is Morgan Stanley Banker’s Star Falling? Wall Street Roundup

Muted response: As the clock ticked past Facebook’s scheduled open, Nasdaq stayed mum on the technical glitches that delayed trading in the social media company’s stock by 28 minutes. The resulting chaos lasted hours, causing confusion over who had bought and sold how many shares at what prices—and leading to about $115 million in losses Read More

By Patrick Clark 5/24/12 7:30am

Morning Read

FACEBOOKimages

NYSE Courts Facebook, Plaintiffs Circle IPO, Buffett’s Goldman Banker: Wall Street Roundup

While Facebook dominated the news, Warren Buffett’s secretive investment banker slipped into a New York courthouse. That and more in today’s Wall Street roundup.

Falling out? NYSE Euronext approached Facebook yesterday about listing the company’s stock on the New York Stock Exchange, a move which would be a bigger blow to Nasdaq than any punishment regulators dole out for bungling the first day in Facebook trading. Read More