- Bernanke to Testify as New BofA Details Emerge
- Lawmaker accuses Fed of “cover-up” in BofA deal
- Fed Shielded Facts Of Merrill Sale, Republicans Say
- G.O.P. Expected to Paint Bernanke as Ally of Big Government
- AIG to Cut Debt to Federal Reserve of New York by $25 Billion
- Short Selling of S&P 500 Increases for First Time Since March
- Stanford Won’t Flee If Granted Bail in Fraud Case, Lawyer Says
- AQR hedging its bets with big mutual fund plan
- KKR Stock Is Coming, via Europe
- Tishman Speyer May Lose California Land After Default
- Toyota to Face ‘Two More Difficult Years’ Toyoda Says
- Some Chrysler Dealers See Lending For Car Inventories Cut Off by GMAC
- Harvard axes 275 as slump hits wealth
- Bed Bath & Beyond Profit Rises 14%, Beating Estimates
- Sanford Odyssey Ends in Tears
Bernanke to Testify as New BofA Details Emerge – Wall Street Journal
After the U.S. government’s rescue of Bank of America Corp. in January, regulators tightened their grip on the bank with a secret agreement that contributed to the ongoing shakeup of its directors and executives, according to people familiar with the situation.
At least some of the Charlotte, N.C., bank’s ratings also were lowered by regulators earlier in the year, these people said, a sign of strong dissatisfaction with risk management, governance and recent losses…..
Lawmaker accuses Fed of “cover-up” in BofA deal – Reuters
The Federal Reserve sought to hide its involvement in Bank of America Corp’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch as Merrill’s financial condition worsened, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said on Wednesday.
The Fed “engaged in a cover-up and deliberately hid concerns and pertinent details regarding the merger from other federal regulatory agencies,” Representative Darrell Issa said in a statement released to Reuters…..
Fed Shielded Facts Of Merrill Sale, Republicans Say – Washington Post
The Federal Reserve tried to keep other federal regulators out of the loop while pushing Bank of America to follow through on its deal to buy the crippled investment bank Merrill Lynch late last fall, according to Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The Republicans say documents obtained by the committee show that the Fed sought to limit the information given to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which was responsible for overseeing financial disclosures from the two companies, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of Bank of America’s regulators. In a memo circulated yesterday, the Republicans also say the Fed tried to avoid the public disclosure of accelerating losses at Merrill Lynch….
G.O.P. Expected to Paint Bernanke as Ally of Big Government – NY Times
In a peculiar role reversal, Republican lawmakers are mounting a ferocious attack on the Republican chairman of the Federal Reserve, while Democrats are coming to his defense.
Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, will be grilled on Thursday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about his role in orchestrating Bank of America’s controversial takeover of Merrill Lynch late last year…..
AIG to Cut Debt to Federal Reserve of New York by $25 Billion - Bloomberg
American International Group Inc. agreed to transfer preferred shares in two life insurance units to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, reducing its debt to the bank by $25 billion.
AIG will put the equity of American International Assurance Co. and American Life Insurance Co. into two special-purpose vehicles, New York-based AIG said today in a statement. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will then get $16 billion of preferred shares in the AIA unit, and a $9 billion stake in the ALICO division, AIG said…..
Short Selling of S&P 500 Increases for First Time Since March – Bloomberg
Bets against the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose for the first time since March as investors increased short sales of health-care companies including Merck & Co. and Cardinal Health Inc.
Short interest on the S&P 500 climbed to 9.8 billion shares as of June 15, a gain of almost 1 percent from two weeks earlier, according to data compiled by U.S. exchanges and Bloomberg and released yesterday. Wagers against health-care shares rose more than 7 percent, the most of 10 groups, to 890.3 million as President Barack Obama proposed an industry overhaul….
Stanford Won’t Flee If Granted Bail in Fraud Case, Lawyer Says – Bloomberg
R. Allen Stanford, the Texas financier charged with swindling $7 billion from investors, should be released on bond because he has no intention of fleeing before a trial, his lawyer told a federal judge.
Stanford is scheduled to appear today at a federal court hearing in Houston to determine whether he should be jailed until trial on charges he ran a Ponzi scheme involving certificates of deposit sold by his Antiguan bank. Stanford has been in U.S. custody since his arrest in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on June 18…
AQR hedging its bets with big mutual fund plan – Reuters
AQR Capital Management LLC, among the world’s largest hedge fund managers, will introduce another hedge fund-style mutual fund next month, as it expands its reach beyond the biggest investors.
Greenwich, Connecticut-based AQR, a $20 billion firm led by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) star Cliff Asness, led a new wave of hedge funds marketing to the masses when it launched the AQR Diversified Arbitrage Fund ADAIX.O in January…..
KKR Stock Is Coming, via Europe – Wall Street Journal
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. continued its relentless push to sell shares to public investors, unveiling a new plan that it hopes will place its shares on the New York Stock Exchange by late 2010.
The move is the latest in a two-year quest to list shares, one that has been repeatedly thwarted by market havoc and problems in KKR’s $47 billion investment portfolio. The plans are a fragile sign that some of the market’s most sophisticated investors remain hopeful for an economic turnaround in months ahead…..
Tishman Speyer May Lose California Land After Default – Bloomberg
Tishman Speyer Properties LP may lose a plot of land in California’s Silicon Valley to Bank of America Corp. after defaulting on an $86.2-million loan used to buy the site, people familiar with the matter said.
Tishman Speyer, the New York-based owner of Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center, is in negotiations with the bank about the 41 acres (16.6 hectares) in North San Jose, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private…..
Toyota to Face ‘Two More Difficult Years’ Toyoda Says – Bloomberg
Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, will “face two more difficult years,” said President Akio Toyoda, who took the reins at the company this week.
Toyoda’s appointment marks the return of the founding family to the helm for the first time in 14 years. Toyoda, 53, called back former Toyota executives to help the company return to profit, after the automaker posted a record 436.9 billion yen ($4.5 billion) loss in the year ended in March. The company expects to post a loss of 550 billion yen this fiscal year…..
Some Chrysler Dealers See Lending For Car Inventories Cut Off by GMAC – Wall Street Journal
GMAC LLC is suspending wholesale financing for certain Chrysler Group LLC dealers it considers to be too risky to lend to, GMAC and Chrysler confirmed Wednesday.
The move could ultimately push more Chrysler dealers out of business and hurt the company’s ability to sell vehicles. During its bankruptcy restructuring, Chrysler shed 789 dealers…..
Harvard axes 275 as slump hits wealth – Financial Times
Harvard University said yesterday that it would cut 275 jobs this week as the recession had eaten into its $30bn endowment and forced it to curb spending.
Facing “extraordinary financial challenges”, Drew Faust, president of the US’s richest educational institution, said that previous moves to freeze salaries and encourage early retirement had not been enough. The cuts would affect administrative, professional, clerical and technical jobs throughout its schools, while an additional 40 workers would be asked to reduce their hours…..
Bed Bath & Beyond Profit Rises 14%, Beating Estimates – Bloomberg
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. reported first-quarter profit rose 14 percent, beating analysts’ estimates, as the largest U.S. home-furnishings retailer lowered expenses to guard against the recession.
Net income increased to $87.2 million, or 34 cents a share, from $76.8 million, or 30 cents, a year earlier, the Union, New Jersey-based company said today in a statement. Analysts anticipated earnings of 25 cents a share, the average of 18 estimates compiled by Bloomberg….
Sanford Odyssey Ends in Tears – Wall Street Journal
An emotional Gov. Mark Sanford reappeared in the state capitol after an unexplained, six-day absence and admitted he had been in Argentina visiting a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.
Mr. Sanford’s rambling statement and apology, made during a news conference in the lobby of the Civil War-era State House, capped an increasingly bizarre sequence of events that had transfixed the nation. The governor’s disappearance had stoked broad speculation and concern, with his staff and wife providing several different accounts of his whereabouts….
Tags: AIG; Short selling, Allen Stanford, AQR, Autos, Ben Bernanke, Fed, Harvard, Headline Roundup, KKR, Politics
