Libor-ated: U.S. prosecutors are preparing to file criminal charges this fall in the Libor-rigging scandal, and employees at more than one bank are said to be implicated, Bloomberg reports. (Earlier in the week, John Carney looked at what types of criminal charges might be filed, and writes that decades-long sentences could be at stake.) Mutual fund companies such as BlackRock (BLK) and Vanguard are considering filing Libor-related lawsuits. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the Senate that the New York Fed didn’t encourage banks to manipulate interbank lending rates.
More problems: Barclays (BCS) underlying profit before tax, which strips away the firm’s $451 million settlement with U.S. and U.K. regulators, increased 13 percent in the first half of the year. The bank revealed that it is under investigation by British regulators over disclosures it made during a 2008 capital raise.
Tax haven? When Eddie Lambert said he was moving $10.5 billion hedge fund ESL Investments to Florida from Connecticut last month, he really meant that he was moving. Mr. Lambert’s staff stayed behind in Connecticut, The New York Post reports, where they now work for a company run by ESL’s former chief financial officer—and continue to provide research to ESL. Mr. Lambert, meanwhile, is avoiding partnership and other taxes.
Whither Europe: Caixabank, Spain’s third-largest lender, and two smaller banks reported lower earnings today as more real-estate loans went bad.
Faceplant: Facebook (META) shares dropped more than 10 percent in trading after the close of markets after the company released quarterly results for the first time since its May IPO. The stock fell even thought the company hit analyst estimates for revenue and earnings-per-share; daily and mobile use of the social networking site continued their downward trends.
Who needs profit? Amazon (AMZN) reported profit fell 96 percent in the second-quarter, and investors didn’t seem to mind.
Mirror, mirror: Goldman’s vaunted new P.R. strategy continues to pay off with stories about Goldman’s vaunted new P.R. strategy.
Dealbreaker…has an app for bank employees whose firm’s have blocked access to the site.
