Barry Zubrow, JPMorgan’s head of regulatory affairs, will step down from the position by the end of the year, The Wall Street Journal says, as Jamie Dimon continues to shake up his inner circle. Four former members of the firm’s operating committee have left the bank or accepted lesser jobs in the last year, Read More
The British Financial Services Authority is wresting oversight of the London interbank lending rate from the British Bankers Association as part of an overhaul of the process by which Libor is set. The British government will take a more hands on role, and submissions will be delayed for three months, perhaps diminishing the temptation to rig rates for the purpose of managing perception of a bank’s health.
Right on time, The Wall Street Journal has an “analysis” that shows Libor doesn’t actually reflect banks’ borrowing costs.
Kareem Serageldin, the former head of Credit Suisse’s CDO business arrested in London on Wednesday, said he will fight extradition to the U.S. When Mr. Serageldin was charges in February for running a scheme to falsify trading positions, he expressed surprise over the indictment, noting through lawyers that he was cooperating with attorneys. When he was nabbed outside the U.S. embassy in London this week, he said through a lawyer that he was working on a plea deal, and that his capture was the result of “miscommunication.” Read More
A former Credit Suisse banker was arrested in London today, according to The Wall Street Journal nearly six months after being indicted by U.S. prosecutors for allegedly faking data to boost end-of-year bonuses.
In February, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara charged Kareem Serageldin, a former global head of the Swiss bank’s collateralized debt obligation business, with masterminding a scheme to mismark positions in asset-backed securities, helping Mr. Serageldin and his traders meet targets linked to annual bonuses. Read More
In the earlier years of the European debt crisis, Spain pushed for Ireland and Portugal to accept international bailouts, lest the confidence in those countries’ ability to repay borrowers spread to neighboring countries (i.e. Spain). Now foreign leaders are urging the Madrid-based government to ask for help from the European Central Bank, and Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy is resisting.
Credit Agricole’s 2006 purchase of Emporiki Bank of Greece may cost the French lender another $779 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Credit Agricole has already written off billions on Emporiki, which has been roiled by the Greek economic crisis; the French bank is in the process of selling Emporiki, for an expected price of 1 euro. Read More
Finally, sense: As you may recall, Bill Johnson was slated to assume Duke Energy’s chief executive office per the terms of a merger between Duke Energy and Progress Energy. (Mr. Johnson had run Progress Energy before the merger.) Well, Mr. Johnson did assume the office, but on the next day he left the company, scooping Read More
It’s earnings season on Wall Street, and earnings at the biggest financial firms have been mostly down, lower profit means paring expenses, cost-saving means cutting comp, or showing some employees the door. And indeed, the 18,000 jobs The Wall Street Journal says the six biggest U.S. banks have cut in the last year are just Read More
Wall Street ax: The six largest U.S. banks have cut 18,000 jobs in the last year, according to The Wall Street Journal, and the industry is showing no signs of slowing down its cost-saving efforts. Goldman Sachs said it would pare an additional $500 million in expenses in the second half of the year, Read More
As far as homes go, a pre-war co-op on the Upper East Side is a pretty safe investment. But Credit Suisse managing director and co-head of global securities Timothy O’Hara did live a little dangerously when he paid half a million dollars more than the $6.7 million ask for a 4-bedroom apartment at 79 East 79th Street. Watch out for those pesky claw backs!
The 4,000-square foot apartment shows all the signs of being the subject of a bidding war. Not only did the co-op spend all of three weeks on the market, but Mr. O’Hara and wife Dara plunked down $7.25 million for it. Read More
Goldman Sachs let go 50 employees last week, including a number of managing directors, The New York Times reported this evening. That adds to the 3,000 employees the investment bank has sent packing in the last year, as the firm deals with an industry wide revenue crunch driven by the looming European debt crisis and Read More
The Facebook IPO keeps growing, a new source of irony in JPMorgan’s losses and an old player heads goes in for a fresh helping of mortgage bonds. That and more in today’s Wall Street roundup.
Who needs revenue? The world’s largest social network may yet challenge the record for the world’s largest IPO, as Zuck Read More
