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, the Journal reports, a group that doesn’t include Jes Staley, considered as a potential successor to Mr. Dimon before being stripped of his role as head of JPMorgan’s investment bank in July. Mr. Zubrow, who was previously JPMorgan’s chief risk officer, may stay with the firm in an advisory role.
Straight talkin’ James Gorman told The Financial Times that pay cuts would continue: “What the Street has historically done is when revenues went up, they kept the comp-to-revenue ratio flat. They rank comp by ratio. When revenues went down, they increased the comp-to-revenue ratio because they said, ‘We might lose all our people. We have to increase it.’” The Morgan Stnaley CEO added: “That’s a classic Wall Street case of ‘Heads I win; tails you lose.’ The current Wall Street management is a little tougher-minded about that and shareholders are certainly tougher-minded.”
Royal Bank of Scotland suspended a trader for trying to rig the Singapore dollar interest rate swap, according to Bloomberg. The trader, Chong Wen Kuang, was named in the lawsuit of Tan Chi Min, who is suing RBS for wrongful dismissal after being fired for trying to manipulate interbank lending rates.
The Department of Justice and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman are among authorities investigating Credit Suisse over mortgage-backed securities, according to Reuters.
Mr. Schneiderman is said to have so-called tolling agreements with 12 banks, allowing the prosecutor to continue his investigation into mortgage-securitization practices at the firms beyond the statue of limitations.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said his country will be out of cash by the end of November if it doesn’t receive the next bailout installment from its European neighbors.
Spanish finance minister Luis de Guindos told an audience of academics that “Spain doesn’t need a bailout at all” … and the academics laughed.
Dave & Buster’s pulled its initial public offering yesterday, citing market volatility.
Junk bond issuers looking to pay interest rates with bonds instead of cash set off alarm bells, according to the Journal.
U.S. and European officials may step up sanctions against Iran after the nation’s currency, the rial, fell 40 percent against the dollar over the last two weeks.
Put a $65 million bounty out for the man who can win the heart of your lesbian daughter, and all sorts of undesirables come calling. Sacha Baron Cohen, for instance …
