- Ratting against Raj
- AIG Said to Give Departing Lawyer $3.8 Million in Severance Pay
- Madoff Returned From Hospital to Medium Security Cell
- U.S. takes majority stake in GMAC, giving lender $3.8 billion more in aid
- Freddie and Fannie cap lift draws anger
- Bonus Tax May Drive Financial Firms Out of the U.K., BBA Says
- Ex-Banker Arbizu Says He Won’t Respond to JPMorgan’s Lawsuit
- Good year as hedge funds play catch-up
- Fox, Time Warner Cable Go to Wire in Vitriolic Talks Over Carriage Fees
Ratting against Raj – NY Post
The feds may have a canary in their cage.
An ex-senior partner at McKinsey & Co., who was caught up in the recent insider-trading scandal involving hedge fund Galleon Group, has taken the first steps toward what may be a guilty plea, according to court filings.
That means Anil Kumar, one of the dozen-plus people who have been slapped with criminal charges in the case, could become a star witness against Galleon bigwig Raj Rajaratnam…..
AIG Said to Give Departing Lawyer $3.8 Million in Severance Pay – Bloomberg
American International Group Inc. general counsel Anastasia Kelly, who is stepping down after a dispute over government-imposed pay limits, will collect about $3.8 million in severance, said people familiar with the matter.
AIG concluded that Kelly, 60, was owed the money after the New York-based insurer hired a law firm to review her conduct, according to the two people, who declined to be identified because the company hasn’t announced the decision. Kelly resigned for “good reason” after her salary was cut, AIG said yesterday in a statement. Suzanne Folsom, the company’s chief compliance officer, also left, AIG said…..
Madoff Returned From Hospital to Medium Security Cell – Bloomberg
Bernard Madoff, the con man who operated the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, was transferred back to his North Carolina prison cell 10 days after being taken to a medical facility, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said.
Madoff, 71, was moved from the medium-security lockup at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex to the medical unit on Dec. 18, according to the bureau. He was sent back to his cell Dec. 28, according to prison spokeswoman Denise Simmons.
“He was being seen for his hypertension,” Simmons said, referring to the reason for Madoff’s hospital stay. Simmons denied a press report last week that Madoff had been assaulted…..
U.S. takes majority stake in GMAC, giving lender $3.8 billion more in aid – Washington Post
The federal government said Wednesday that it will take majority control of troubled auto lender GMAC and provide an additional $3.8 billion in aid to the company, which has been unable to raise from private investors the money it needs to staunch its losses.
The Treasury Department has said for months that GMAC would need more federal money, but the decision to increase the government’s ownership stake came as a surprise, cutting against the grain of the Obama administration’s recent efforts to wind down its bailout of large banks.,,,
Freddie and Fannie cap lift draws anger – NY Post
Lawmakers from both political parties yesterday blasted the Treasury Department’s Christmas Eve announcement that beleaguered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would have access to unlimited funds without requiring congressional approval, and called for an investigation into the matter.
Reps. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) and Scott Garrett (R-NJ) called on the House Financial Services Committee to hold a hearing, while Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said that as chairman of the domestic policy subcommittee on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, he, too, would launch a probe…..
Bonus Tax May Drive Financial Firms Out of the U.K., BBA Says – Bloomberg
The U.K. plan to tax bankers’ 2009 bonuses may drive financial firms overseas, causing a slump in the industry similar to the deterioration in shipbuilding in the 20th century, the British Bankers’ Association said.
“The U.K. has a record of building up great industries such as in steel, shipbuilding, engineering,” Chief Executive Officer Angela Knight said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. “It would be the height of irresponsibility to lose this industry as we have done with others so many times before.”……
Ex-Banker Arbizu Says He Won’t Respond to JPMorgan’s Lawsuit – Bloomberg
Hernan Arbizu, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. private banker who fled the U.S. after being indicted for embezzlement, said he won’t respond to a related lawsuit the bank filed against him.
Arbizu said in a phone interview from Buenos Aires yesterday that he won’t hire a lawyer to defend against JPMorgan’s allegations that he stole $2.8 million from a customer account to replace money he allegedly took from one at UBS AG, where he previously worked. He said in the interview that the bank’s claims, made in a lawsuit filed this week in Manhattan federal court, are true.
“I don’t have anything they can take away from me, so what can they do if I don’t defend myself?” Arbizu said. “I live off my family, and there are days I only have a few coins in my pockets.”…..
Good year as hedge funds play catch-up – Financial Times
The global hedge fund industry has turned in one of its best years of performance in 2009 in close to a decade, according to industry data.
However, managers have yet to fully shake off many of the problems of 2008.
The average hedge fund returned 19 per cent to investors in 2009, according to Chicago-based data provider Hedge Fund Research. Other leading hedge fund indices report average returns of between 12 and 18 per cent after fees…..
Fox, Time Warner Cable Go to Wire in Vitriolic Talks Over Carriage Fees – Wall Street Journal
Time Warner Cable Inc. and News Corp. traded barbs on Wednesday as they face a New Year’s deadline in their landmark fight over TV-programming fees. If the fight remains unresolved it will threaten millions of cable-TV subscribers with the loss of Fox broadcast programs, including big football games, in coming days.
The two sides remain at odds as they try to conclude months of talks over a new contract for Time Warner Cable to pipe News Corp. programming to viewers. Chase Carey, News Corp.’s president and chief operating officer, said in a memo to employees Wednesday, “it looks like we will not reach an agreement and our channels may very well go off the air in Time Warner Cable systems at midnight [Dec. 31].”…..
Tags: AIG, Bailouts, Bernie Madoff, Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac, Galleon, GMAC, Hedge funds, Insider Trading, JP Morgan, lawsuits, Raj Rajaratnam, TARP
