- Goldman Sachs Weighs Requirement for Charity
- Banks Brace for Bonus Fury
- Geithner Has Support of Obama, Democratic Lawmakers, Aides Say
- U.S. Bankers Are Fed Up With British Regulations
- Corzine Leaves $8 Billion Gap as N.J. Governor Readies Exit
- Dubai’s First Foreclosure May Open Floodgates in Worst Market
- Dimon Leading Dividend Race Pandit Sweats in New Test for Banks
- Goldman Looks to Crash ETF Party
- ‘Avatar’ awakens January B.O. with $48.5 million
- NBC in embarrassing retreat on prime time Leno show
- CBS Says Letterman, Ferguson Contracts ‘Very Close’
Goldman Sachs Weighs Requirement for Charity – NY Times
As it prepares to pay out big bonuses to employees, Goldman Sachs is considering expanding a program that would require executives and top managers to give a certain percentage of their earnings to charity.
The move would be the latest in a series of initiatives by Goldman to soften criticism over the size of its bonuses, which are expected to be among the largest on Wall Street, bringing average pay to about $595,000 for each employee — with far higher amounts for top performers……
Banks Brace for Bonus Fury – Wall Street Journal
Critics of Wall Street firms are grumbling that this year’s bonuses are far too generous. But some recipients are none too happy, either: They’re complaining too much of the payout is coming in stock instead of cash.
Banks and securities firms have told workers their bonuses will contain a bigger percentage of stock to demonstrate that Wall Street is sensitive to public anger over the big paychecks. The idea is that stock reduces employees’ temptation to take too many financial risks, since they have an ownership stake.,,,,,
Geithner Has Support of Obama, Democratic Lawmakers, Aides Say – Bloomberg
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner retains the confidence of President Barack Obama as he faces questions about why the Federal Reserve Bank of New York tried to withhold details of the government’s financial-industry rescue, administration officials said.
Aides to top congressional Democrats also said that Geithner has support on Capitol Hill as lawmakers prepare hearings into why the New York Fed in December 2008 asked American International Group Inc. to scale back disclosures of the government’s $182.3 billion bailout of the New York-based insurer. The Treasury Department said Geithner, 48, recused himself from such deliberations after Obama picked him to be Treasury chief the previous month…….
U.S. Bankers Are Fed Up With British Regulations – NY Times
A tough new requirement by Britain’s securities regulator that top banking executives and earners must defer 60 percent of their total compensation for a three-year period is pushing some American banks with extensive London operations to say that they just won’t take it anymore.
Their taxes are on the rise, they have become political piñatas and now, just as one of the richer bonus seasons in recent years gets under way, they are being told by regulators how to pay — or not to pay, to be precise — their employees…..
Corzine Leaves $8 Billion Gap as N.J. Governor Readies Exit – Bloomberg
Jon Corzine, only the second sitting New Jersey governor to lose a general election since 1947, makes his farewell speech tomorrow with the third-most indebted U.S. state facing spending cuts as steep as 25 percent to close a record $8 billion budget gap.
The one-term Democrat is leaving with tax revenue down 12 percent since taking office in 2006, local property levies up 9 percent to the highest-in-the-nation average of $7,045 and his Republican successor, former U.S. prosecutor Christopher Christie, proposing state-aid reductions that may force towns to fire teachers, close libraries and stop maintaining parks……
Dubai’s First Foreclosure May Open Floodgates in Worst Market – Bloomberg
Dubai’s housing rout sent prices down 52 percent in the past year, prompting some homeowners to abandon their cars and mortgage payments and flee the country. Not one received a foreclosure notice.
Until now.
Barclays Plc won the sheikdom’s first foreclosure cases in court, clearing the way for lenders holding about $16 billion of Dubai home loans to take action when borrowers don’t pay. Islamic lender Tamweel PJSC, the emirate’s biggest mortgage bank, has several of its own foreclosure claims pending and estimates about 3 percent of its mortgages are in default……..
Dimon Leading Dividend Race Pandit Sweats in New Test for Banks – Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co., which repaid bailout funds five months before its competitors, is leading again in the next test of bank fitness: restoring dividends cut last year amid the credit crisis.
Investors in the U.S. options market already are betting JPMorgan will more than double its quarterly dividend early this year from the current 5 cents a share, said Steve Sosnick, equity risk manager at Timber Hill LLC, the market-making unit of Greenwich, Connecticut-based Interactive Brokers Group Inc. At Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., dividend increases may not happen until 2011, he said……
Goldman Looks to Crash ETF Party – Wall Street Journal
Belatedly, Goldman Sachs Group wants to join the exchange-traded-funds party.
The Wall Street bank, which already has a prominent ETF trading desk, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to launch a slate of these funds. Its decision follows similar me-too moves in 2009 by other well-known firms like Allianz’s Pacific Investment Management Co., Charles Schwab and T. Rowe Price Group……
‘Avatar’ awakens January B.O. with $48.5 million – Variety
“Avatar’s” first post-holiday weekend was a test of its potential to pass “Titanic” and become the top-grossing film of all time — and the results are optimistic.
With just okay showings by new pics and strong holdovers, 20th Century Fox’s James Cameron blockbuster held on to the No. 1 spot.
It grossed $143 million in its fourth sesh overseas — up 4.5% from the previous weekend — for a foreign total of $906.2 million. Domestically, the film dipped just 29% to $48.5 million for a cume of $429 million and worldwide tally of $1.34 billion, $460 million shy of Cameron’s “Titanic” ($1.8 billion)……
NBC in embarrassing retreat on prime time Leno show – Reuters
NBC retreated on Sunday from its controversial bid to shake up prime time U.S. television, saying it was “going back to basics” with traditional dramas and comedies to try to rebuild audiences and its reputation.
Once mighty NBC, now at the bottom of the four leading U.S. networks, announced it was dropping “The Jay Leno Show” in February from its 10 p.m. lineup after just four months because of pressure from local affiliates…..
Gaspin said Leno’s comedy and talk show would cease airing in its 10 p.m. slot on February 12. He said he hoped to move Leno to 11:35 p.m., “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” to 12:05 a.m. and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” to 1:05 a.m. but stressed that nothing had been settled…..
CBS Says Letterman, Ferguson Contracts ‘Very Close’ – Bloomberg
CBS Corp., owner of the most-watched U.S. TV network, said it’s “very close” to extending contracts of late-night hosts David Letterman and Craig Ferguson.
The contracts will run “deep into 2012,” Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, said today at meetings with television critics in Pasadena, California…….
Tags: AIG, Bonuses, Compensation, Dubai, Goldman Sachs, Jamie Dimon, Jon Corzine, JP Morgan, Movies, Tim Geithner, TV, U.S. Treasury
