- Big Bonuses Are Back for Many on Street
- Some Wall Street Year-End Bonuses Could Hit Pre-Downturn Highs
- Clash Looms on Banks
- Dodd to Move on Financial Revamp Without Republicans
- UBS Gets Fewest ‘Buys’ as Analysts Fret Over Fleeing Clients
- Countrywide ex-CEO Mozilo must face SEC fraud case
- Goldman reaps benefits as trading boom returns
- JPMorgan Ends SEC Alabama Swap Probe for $722 Million
- S&P: Berkshire Hathaway Has 3 A’s for Now
- Ex-Bear Manager Tannin Wins Dismissal of One Wire Fraud Charge
- UBS fined £8 million by City watchdog
Big Bonuses Are Back for Many on Street – Wall Street Journal
Incentive pay on Wall Street is set to rise by about 40% as stronger financial markets collide with the political backlash over bonuses, according to a closely watched survey set to be released Thursday.
Johnson Associates, a compensation consulting firm in New York, projects that the biggest increases in year-end cash bonuses and equity awards will go to employees in rebounding businesses such as fixed income and equities. Those incentive-based payouts likely will surge by as much as 60% from last year, the survey found…..
Some Wall Street Year-End Bonuses Could Hit Pre-Downturn Highs – NY Times
In financial circles, the question on everyone’s mind is this: Just how big will this payday be?
The answer, it seems, is extremely big — perhaps the biggest industrywide since 2007, at the height of the bubble, according to a study released on Wednesday by the pay consultant Johnson Associates…..
Clash Looms on Banks - Wall Street Journal
A key Senate lawmaker is readying legislation that would dramatically redraw how the financial system is regulated, setting the chamber on a collision course with both the House of Representatives and the Obama administration, which have championed markedly different approaches.
The bill, which is being readied by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.), would strip almost all bank-supervision powers from the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., according to people familiar with the matter. In their place, the bill would create a new agency in charge of supervising all banks and bank-holding companies, even the country’s largest and most complex institutions….
Dodd to Move on Financial Revamp Without Republicans - Bloomberg
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said he will unveil legislation next week to overhaul regulation of U.S. financial markets without Republican support after failing to reach a compromise.
“I’ve certainly been reaching out, and they know that, to try to develop a consensus bill,” Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters today in Washington. “My intention is to go forward. This is an area that demands our attention.”….
UBS Gets Fewest ‘Buys’ as Analysts Fret Over Fleeing Clients – Bloomberg
UBS AG, the Swiss bank that posted a fourth straight quarterly loss this week, ranks lowest among Europe’s largest lenders in the estimation of industry analysts.
Among the 39 who issued a recommendation on UBS over the past three months, 31 percent counseled investors to buy the Zurich-based bank’s shares, the least among Europe’s 10 biggest banks by market value, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Forty- six percent said hold and 23 percent said sell….
Countrywide ex-CEO Mozilo must face SEC fraud case – Reuters
A federal judge rejected a request by Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp, to dismiss a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit accusing him of securities fraud and insider trading.
In a Tuesday court filing, U.S. District Judge John Walter in Los Angeles also rejected requests by David Sambol and Eric Sieracki, respectively Countrywide’s former chief operating officer and former chief financial officer, to dismiss related SEC fraud charges….
Goldman reaps benefits as trading boom returns – Financial Times
Goldman Sachs traders recorded only one daily loss in the third quarter, highlighting the trading bonanza that is sweeping Wall Street as central banks continue to pump billions of dollars into the financial system
The performance, which was revealed yesterday in a regulatory filing, compares with two losing trading days in the previous quarter and confirms that the authorities’ drive to revive markets after the crisis is yielding huge windfalls for some banks. Before the crisis, banks regularly recorded trading losses on several days in a quarter…..
JPMorgan Ends SEC Alabama Swap Probe for $722 Million – Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to a $722 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to end a probe into sales of derivatives that helped push Alabama’s most populous county to the brink of bankruptcy.
JPMorgan will give Jefferson County, Alabama, $50 million, pay a $25 million penalty and cancel $647 million in fees the county faced to unwind the transactions, according to an SEC news release. In addition, the agency charged two former JPMorgan employees for their roles in an “unlawful payment scheme” that allowed them to win bond and interest-rate swap business with the county….
S&P: Berkshire Hathaway Has 3 A’s for Now – Wall Street Journal
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services put triple-A-rated Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and various units on watch for downgrade a day after Warren Buffett’s conglomerate announced plans to acquire the remaining 77% of Burlington Northern Sante Fe Corp., valuing the railroad concern at $34 billion…..
Ex-Bear Manager Tannin Wins Dismissal of One Wire Fraud Charge – Bloomberg
Former Bear Stearns Cos. hedge-fund manager Matthew Tannin won dismissal of one wire fraud charge alleging he told a lender during a phone call in May 2007 that he anticipated no large redemptions.
U.S. District Judge Frederic Block, in Brooklyn, granted a request yesterday by prosecutors to dismiss the charge against Tannin, 48. Tannin, the funds’ chief operating officer, is on trial with Ralph Cioffi, 53, the portfolio manager, accused of misleading investors about the health of two funds, which cost investors $1.6 billion when they collapsed in 2007…..
UBS fined £8 million by City watchdog – The Times of London
UBS has been fined £8 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the City regulator, for having weak controls that allowed staff in its private bank to make unauthorised trades on client accounts and hide the losses for almost two years.
The fine, the third largest the FSA has imposed, relates to unauthorised foreign exchange and metals transactions with client money on at lest 39 customer accounts. The trading was uncovered in an internal investigation triggered by a UBS whistleblower…..
Tags: Angelo Mozilo, Bear Stearns, Berkshire Hathaway, Bonuses, Compensation, Countrywide, Financial Overhaul, Goldman Sachs, Hedge funds, JP Morgan, Politics, UBS, Warren Buffett
