- California ills could give US headache
- SEC May Gain Expanded Powers to Prohibit Broker Pay, Wrongdoers
- Bank of America Said to Balk at Paying Fee to U.S. for Backstop
- CIT Group still in talks with regulators
- CIT Hires Bankruptcy Specialist Skadden as Bond Access Wanes
- Sales tax revenues fall sharply in Texas
- City of Miami faces worst financial crunch in over a decade
- Rivals Play Catch-Up as Goldman Thrives
- Morgan Stanley unveils $250m securitisation
- VW Raises Porsche Offer to More Than $5.6 Billion, Spiegel Says
- Delphi Receives No New Cash Bids for Assets
- Purchase Of GM’s Opel Unit Unlikely By Mid-July – Report
- ‘Bruno’ sashays to top of box office
California ills could give US headache – Financial Times
California’s fiscal crisis is in danger of becoming a serious headache, not just for the state and its feuding politicians in Sacramento, but for the entire nation.
In public, federal government officials talk about California’s problems as if they were ringfenced – a crisis for the state but with few national ramifications. They know the slightest whiff of federal intervention would take away the incentive for California’s politicians to agree on tough spending cuts and tax increases….
SEC May Gain Expanded Powers to Prohibit Broker Pay, Wrongdoers – Bloomberg
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would gain power under an Obama administration proposal to ban pay practices at brokerages and investment advisers and prevent individuals from working in the industry.
The Treasury Department sent Congress legislation yesterday that would let the SEC prohibit “sales practices, conflicts of interest and compensation schemes” deemed harmful to investors. The measure lets the agency remove individuals who violate rules from all aspects of the industry, rather than a specific segment such as selling securities or managing money…..
Bank of America Said to Balk at Paying Fee to U.S. for Backstop – Bloomberg
Bank of America Corp. is trying to avoid paying billions of dollars in fees to U.S. taxpayers for guarantees against losses at Merrill Lynch & Co., saying the rescue agreement was never signed and the funding never used.
Regulators contend Bank of America owes at least part of a $4 billion fee it agreed to pay in January — even without a completed legal document — because the company benefited from implied U.S. backing on about $118 billion of Merrill Lynch assets, such as mortgage-backed bonds, people familiar with the matter said. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank says it owes the Treasury nothing, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are confidential…..
CIT Group still in talks with regulators – AP
Diversified lender CIT Group Inc. said it is still in talks with regulators on ways to improve its near-term liquidity as recent losses may jeopardize its compliance with capital requirements…
CIT Hires Bankruptcy Specialist Skadden as Bond Access Wanes – Bloomberg
CIT Group Inc., the century-old lender to 950,000 businesses that has been unable to persuade the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to guarantee its debt sales, hired bankruptcy specialist Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as an adviser amid a plunge in its stock and bonds.
The FDIC is concerned that standing behind CIT debt would put taxpayer money at risk because the company’s credit quality is worsening, said people familiar with the regulator’s thinking who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The FDIC has backed $274 billion in bond sales under its Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program since Nov. 25…..
Sales tax revenues fall sharply in Texas – Houston Chronicle
The state’s most recent monthly sales tax revenues dropped 11.2 percent from a year ago, the latest sign that the recession is infecting Texas.
The $1.57 billion collected in June, which reflects sales in May, is off from the $1.77 billion collected in the same month a year ago.
One budget official estimates that sales tax collections are $100 million below projections and could fall $550 million short when the fiscal year ends in two months. Eva DeLuna Castro of the nonpartisan Center for Public Policy Priorities says weak consumer spending is the cause of the shortfall…..
City of Miami faces worst financial crunch in over a decade – Miami Herald
espite an unprecedented high-rise building boom that broadened the tax base for most of the decade, Miami is sliding toward the brink of its worst financial crunch since 1996, when the city flirted with bankruptcy and ceded daily control to the state.
The city has depleted its reserves by more than $50 million to plug operating deficits in four of the last five years, a downturn that began well before the nation’s economic meltdown…..
Rivals Play Catch-Up as Goldman Thrives – Wall Street Journal
The bank is scheduled to release second-quarter results Tuesday, and analysts expect net income of $3.48 a share for the quarter ended June 30.
That compares with $4.58 a year ago for the quarter ended May 30, when Goldman was an investment bank rather than a bank-holding company, and had a different reporting schedule.
Some forecast even better results…..
Morgan Stanley unveils $250m securitisation – Financial Times
Morgan Stanley has launched a new intellectual property securitisation in the latest sign of life for structured products and a revival of investor interest in even the most cutting-edge corners of the market.
The bank has launched a $250m deal for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a US biotech company that would see investors repaid from contractual milestone payments on a drug still in development….
VW Raises Porsche Offer to More Than $5.6 Billion, Spiegel Says – Bloomberg
Volkswagen AG raised its offer for a 49.9 percent stake in Porsche SE clearly to more than 4 billion euros ($5.6 billion), the weekly magazine Spiegel said in a preview of its Monday edition, without saying where it obtained the information.
Volkswagen spokesman Peik von Bestenbostel declined to comment on the report when contacted by Bloomberg News….
Delphi Receives No New Cash Bids for Assets – Wall Street Journal
Delphi Corp. said no companies offered to top the auto-parts supplier’s government-orchestrated deal with buyout firm Platinum Equity LLC by Friday’s deadline, though lender J.P. Morgan Chase may make a credit bid by next week.
The deadline for credit bidding by J.P. Morgan or another lender is July 17. Friday was the deadline for cash bids…..
Purchase Of GM’s Opel Unit Unlikely By Mid-July – Report - Dow Jones via CNNMoney
Canadian auto parts maker Magna is unlikely to meet its target of mid-July for taking over Opel from General Motors, a press report said Saturday, quoting a source in the economy ministry.
Too many issues are still unresolved and “the likelihood of a contract being signed next week is extremely low,” the daily Bild quoted its source as saying…..
‘Bruno’ sashays to top of box office – Variety
Universal’s Sacha Baron Cohen starrer “Bruno” weathered a dramatic Saturday fall-off to win the domestic B.O. race with $30.4 million, putting its worldwide debut at a fashionable $55.4 million after scoring $25 million internationally.
But “Bruno” — which pushes the bounds of the R-rating — will need svelte legs to match the box office performance of Baron Cohen’s previous film, “Borat,” which didn’t see the same sort of decline on opening weekend…..
Tags: Autos, Bank of America, California, CIT, Delphi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, SEC
