- Obama Says He Has Been ‘Humbled’ by Tough Health-Care Debate
- Congress Presses for Details From Bank of America on Talks
- Firms Back Plan to Change Pay Policies
- Bankers Furious Over Government Pay Plan
- Limit EU bank bonuses even if U.S. doesn’t – Barroso
- RBS Said to Gauge Interest in $8.1 Billion Share Sale
- Citi Executive Tom King to Depart
- SocGen CEO: Expects Higher Cap Requirements For Banks
- IRS to Extend Leniency for UBS Offshore Disclosures
- Irwin Financial’s 2 Bank Units Seized, Pushing U.S. Toll to 94
- EU rules would see hedge funds go overseas
- Recession Drives Women Back to the Work Force
- Once Slave to Luxury, Japan Catches Thrift Bug
- Dell to Acquire Perot Systems for $3.9 Billion
- Wynn Seeks $1.63 Billion in IPO of Macau Casino Asset
- Disney Faces Rights Issues Over Marvel
- ‘Meatballs’ Is Top Film With Box Office Sales of $30 Million
Obama Says He Has Been ‘Humbled’ by Tough Health-Care Debate – Bloomberg
President Barack Obama, appearing on five Sunday news shows to push for his health-care overhaul, said he has been “humbled” by the difficulty of the debate.
“There have been times where I have said I’ve got to step up my game in terms of talking to the American people about issues like health care,” Obama said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” program. “That’s been a case where I have been humbled and I just keep on trying harder.”…..
Congress Presses for Details From Bank of America on Talks – NY Times
For months, Bank of America has been trying to keep secret its legal conversations at the end of last year about its coming merger with Merrill Lynch. So far, it has succeeded, mainly by arguing that those conversations should remain confidential because they are protected by attorney-client privilege.
But now, the bank is facing questions from a House panel, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, whose chairman, Representative Edolphus Towns, has told the bank that it cannot use attorney-client privilege when dealing with Congress…..
Firms Back Plan to Change Pay Policies – Wall Street Journal
A group of blue-chip companies is lining up behind efforts to voluntarily change their pay practices, in part to head off potentially more onerous restrictions out of Washington.
The Conference Board, a nonprofit business-research group, is set to announce Monday that companies including AT&T Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Tyco International Ltd., are endorsing a set of principles that hew closely to what the Obama administration is pushing, including tying pay to performance and reducing short-term financial incentives…..
Bankers Furious Over Government Pay Plan – Wall Street Journal
Bankers have a message for Bernanke: it’s on.
The Fed’s new plan to oversee pay for a deep swath of finance workers is not being received well.
The Deal said the act is “a blow against the fortress of shareholder-centric governance.”….
Limit EU bank bonuses even if U.S. doesn’t – Barroso – Reuters
The European Union should go ahead with imposing limits on bankers’ bonuses even if the United States does not after this week’s G20 summit in Pittsburgh, European Commission president Jose-Manuel Barroso said on Sunday.
“It would be interesting, important, useful to have if possible the same rules in the world (…) to have the Americans at our side,” he told the France TV5 television station….
RBS Said to Gauge Interest in $8.1 Billion Share Sale – Bloomberg
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain’s biggest government-controlled bank, is in talks with shareholders to gauge the appetite for a potential rights offering, two people familiar with the talks said.
The bank held the discussions last week, said the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are still at an early stage. RBS may raise between 3 billion pounds and 5 billion pounds ($8.1 billion), one of the people said….
Citi Executive Tom King to Depart – Wall Street Journal
Tom King, one of Citigroup Inc.’s top executives in Europe, is leaving the U.S. banking giant after 20 years there and will likely take a senior position at Barclays PLC’s investment bank, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. King, 48 years old, is Citigroup’s London-based head of corporate and investment banking and capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the new role he is expected to take at Barclays, Mr. King would help the U.K. bank build out its investment-banking franchise in Europe, the people said, cautioning that it isn’t yet certain he will join Barclays…..
SocGen CEO: Expects Higher Cap Requirements For Banks – Wall Street Journal
Societe Generale (GLE.FR) Chief Executive Frederic Oudea said Monday he is watching the Group of 20 industrial countries’ meeting this week for indications on new capital requirements for banks.
Oudea expects higher capital requirements to be gradually introduced for banks, notably for their capital markets activities, he said Monday, speaking at an investor day presentation in London…..
IRS to Extend Leniency for UBS Offshore Disclosures – Bloomberg
The Internal Revenue Service will extend until Oct. 15 the ability of Americans with undeclared offshore accounts at UBS AG and other banks to avoid criminal prosecution and some fines if they disclose their holdings, a government official familiar with the program said.
The agency will delay a Sept. 23 deadline at the request of accountants and tax lawyers who are experiencing an influx of inquiries and need more time to prepare formal “voluntary disclosure” applications under the program, the official said. More than 3,000 people have come forward since the IRS announced the partial amnesty in March, the official added…..
Irwin Financial’s 2 Bank Units Seized, Pushing U.S. Toll to 94 – Bloomberg
Irwin Financial Corp.’s bank units in Kentucky and Indiana, with $2.5 billion in deposits and offices in nine states, were closed by regulators, pushing the tally of failed U.S. lenders this year to 94.
Irwin Union Bank based in Louisville was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision and Columbus-based Irwin Union Bank and Trust Co. was shut by the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said yesterday in a statement. First Financial Bank of Hamilton, Ohio, agreed to assume the deposits and take over 27 offices, the FDIC said…..
EU rules would see hedge funds go overseas – Financial Times
Nearly half of the UK’s hedge funds are likely to move abroad if new EU regulations are passed, according to a comprehensive new study of the alternative asset management industry due to be released today.
The findings – based on a survey of 121 managers, looking after $384bn (£236bn, €261bn) of client assets, the bulk of the European industry – come as UK and American politicians step up their efforts to modify the EU’s controversial draft alternative investment fund manager directive…..
Recession Drives Women Back to the Work Force – NY Times
The Great Recession is pushing many highly educated women who had left work to stay at home with their children to dive back into the labor pool, according to several nationally recognized experts on women in the workplace.
Many of these women are sending out job applications for the first time in years because their husbands were laid off, fear being laid off or had their salaries cut or because their family’s investments plunged in value….
Once Slave to Luxury, Japan Catches Thrift Bug – NY Times
Not long ago, many Japanese bought so many $100 melons and $1,000 handbags that this was the only country in the world where luxury products were considered mass market.
Even through the economic stagnation of Japan’s so-called lost decade, which began in the early 1990s, Japanese consumers sustained that reputation. But this recession has done something that earlier declines could not: turned the Japanese into Wal-Mart shoppers…..
Dell to Acquire Perot Systems for $3.9 Billion – Bloomberg
Dell Inc. said it agreed to acquire Perot Systems Corp. in a transaction valued at approximately $3.9 billion. Terms of the agreement were approved yesterday by the boards of directors of both companies….
Wynn Seeks $1.63 Billion in IPO of Macau Casino Asset – Bloomberg
Wynn Resorts Ltd. plans to raise as much as HK$12.6 billion ($1.63 billion) in a Hong Kong initial public offering of its Macau casino assets, two people familiar with the matter said.
Wynn Macau Ltd. plans to sell 1.25 billion shares for between HK$8.52 and HK$10.08 apiece, the two people said, asking not to be identified before a company announcement. The sale represents about 25 percent of the Macau business, they said…..
Disney Faces Rights Issues Over Marvel – NY Times
Walt Disney’s proposed $4 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment may come with a headache: newly filed claims challenging Marvel’s long-term rights to some of its superhero characters.
Heirs to the comic book artist Jack Kirby, a creator of characters and stories behind Marvel mainstays like “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four,” last week sent 45 notices of copyright termination to Marvel and Disney, as well as Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and other companies that have been using the characters…..
‘Meatballs’ Is Top Film With Box Office Sales of $30 Million - Bloomberg
“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” a 3-D animated comedy, was the top film in U.S. and Canadian theaters this weekend, taking in $30.1 million in ticket sales for Sony Corp.
“The Informant!,” starring Matt Damon, was second in its debut with $10.5 million for Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said in an e-mailed statement. Last week’s top film, Tyler Perry’s “I Can Do Bad All By Myself,” dropped to third place with sales of $10.1 million for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp……
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