- Bernie Madoff, the $19B Con, Makes New Friends Behind Bars
- Buyout Pioneer Kravis Aims to Remake KKR Like Buffett
- Goldman Sachs Bars Cash Bonus for Top Officers
- Goldman Sachs Stock Bonus Plan to Defer Compensation Expense
- UK: Revenue to clarify bonus rules
- UK: Lawyers search for loopholes in supertax
- Moody’s Analyst: No Threat To US, UK Triple-A Ratings Now
- Ex-UBS Banker, Swiss Lawyer Declared U.S. Fugitives
- Ex-Merrill Broker Gets Probation in ‘Squawk Box’ Case
- Credit Suisse selects chairman
Bernie Madoff, the $19 Billion Con, Makes New Friends Behind Bars – Wall Street Journal
….Inmate No. 61727-054 shares an unlocked cell at the medium-security prison at Butner Federal Correctional Complex with a younger man named Frank. He wears khaki prison garb and has been spotted walking on an outdoor track. He plays bocce, chess and checkers. He scrubs pots and pans in the prison kitchen.
The 71-year-old Mr. Madoff also is salvaging something that disappeared in the outside world the moment his fraud was exposed: respect. “To every con artist, he is the godfather, the don,” says an inmate interviewed earlier this week…..
Buyout Pioneer Kravis Aims to Remake KKR Like Buffett - Bloomberg
It’s difficult to believe that Henry Kravis could suffer from portfolio envy. The private-equity titan and co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is famous for his ability to buy and sell companies for profit.
It’s a skill that has made him enormously wealthy over his 33 years at KKR’s helm: Kravis, 65, is worth an estimated $3.8 billion, according to Forbes. His firm owns or holds stakes in 51 companies with combined annual revenues of $218 billion — more than double that of private-equity rivals Blackstone Group LP and Carlyle Group. Among KKR’s big-name holdings: retailer Toys ‘R’ Us, research firm Nielsen and hospital giant HCA…..
Goldman Sachs Bars Cash Bonus for Top Officers – NY Times
With France joining Britain in proposing a steep tax on bank bonuses, Goldman Sachs moved on Thursday to quell the uproar over its resurgent profits and pay.
Bowing to calls for restraint in tough economic times, Goldman said that its most senior executives would forgo cash bonuses this year. Instead, the 30 executives will be paid in the form of long-term stock — an arrangement that means they will not get big year-end paydays, but one that could turn out to be enormously lucrative if Goldman’s share price rises over time…..
Goldman Sachs Stock Bonus Plan to Defer Compensation Expense – Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s plan to pay top executives in restricted stock will let the firm defer compensation expenses, reducing what it must report this year after being pilloried for setting aside more than $16 billion for employees.
The awards will consist of so-called shares-at-risk that start vesting next year and can’t be sold for five years, the New York-based firm said yesterday. Because the expense isn’t recorded until they vest, the firm avoids incurring an immediate cost, said Robert Willens, founder of Robert Willens LLC, which advises investors on accounting and tax rules.
“That’s just what they needed to make this year look better,” said Willens, a former managing director at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. “The first charge won’t be until 2010, so this will definitely reduce their compensation expense. These 30 people make a disproportionate amount of the compensation.”….
Revenue to clarify bonus rules – Financial Times
….New wording is expected shortly from the Revenue, which has been working with the Investment Management Association to reassure asset managers that they are not caught by the new payroll levy.
“The policy intent is to catch banking,” said the Treasury. The 50 per cent levy on any bank paying bonuses of £25,000 or more was not intended to apply to hedge fund managers or asset managers within banks if they operated independently of the rest of the bank…..
Lawyers search for loopholes in supertax – Financial Times
Banks were yesterday poring over their pay deals to determine whether they could classify bonuses owed to top performers as “guaranteed,” escaping the government’s 50 per cent “supertax”.
The exemption for contractually guaranteed bonuses in Alistair Darling’s crackdown on bankers’ remuneration has triggered widespread surprise in the City, given that they are perceived as among the most lavish element of banks’ compensation systems…..
Moody’s Analyst: No Threat To US, UK Triple-A Ratings Now – Wall Street Journal
Moody’s Investors Service said Friday that it has no plans to revise the triple-A ratings of the U.S. and U.K., opting to wait for policy responses to the deteriorating fiscal situation in the two economies.
“At this point, we have no plan to change the rating, and we will wait to see what happens after the effects of the global recession and financial crisis have fully played out, and we will also be looking closely at the policy responses of these governments in order to assess our ratings,” Steven Hess, Vice President and Senior Credit Officer of the sovereign ratings Group at Moody’s, said in a teleconference…..
Ex-UBS Banker, Swiss Lawyer Declared U.S. Fugitives – Bloomberg
A former UBS AG manager and a Swiss attorney charged in the U.S. with helping wealthy Americans evade taxes were declared fugitives today by a federal judge.
Hansruedi Schumacher, a former NZB Neue Zuercher Bank manager who once ran the cross-border business for UBS, and Matthias Rickenbach, a Zurich lawyer, were indicted Aug. 20 for allegedly helping Americans evade taxes on UBS and NZB accounts. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hurley signed the order in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida…..
Ex-Merrill Broker Gets Probation in ‘Squawk Box’ Case – Bloomberg
A former Merrill Lynch & Co. broker was sentenced to four years of probation for conspiring to sell day traders access to internal “squawk boxes” after the judge cited the broker’s prior imprisonment as a factor.
Timothy O’Connell, of Carle Place, New York, was convicted in April with five others, including former Citigroup Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. brokers. O’Connell, who completed a prison term for a related conviction, was also ordered today to serve four months of home detention and forfeit $254,858….
Credit Suisse selects chairman – Financial Times
Credit Suisse yesterday said Urs Rohner, the 50-year old Swiss lawyer, would be its next chairman.
Mr Rohner, appointed deputy chairman this year, has held the posts of chief operating officer and general counsel. He will take the top job in April 2011. That will allow Hans-Ulrich Doerig, who became chairman this year, to stay for two years, rather than the single year some had expected. Haig Simonian, Zurich….
Tags: Bernie Madoff, Bonuses, Compensation, Goldman Sachs, Henry Kravis, KKR, Moody's, ponzi schemes, prison, scammers, Taxes
