Wall Street Folly

Rep. Charles Rangel appeared poised to lose the chairmanship of the powerful House tax-writing committee as dozens of Democrats said they would support a Republican resolution urging him to step down, senior congressional aides said Tuesday.

As many as 30 House Democrats could join 178 House Republicans in voting to oust Mr. Rangel as head of the Ways and Means Committee, the aides said, a substantially higher number than in previous votes on his removal. Mr. Rangel, a New York Democrat, has been battling a series of ethics charges in recent months. Last week, the House ethics committee found he broke congressional rules by not properly disclosing trips to the Caribbean that were paid for by companies…..

The U.S. is asking hedge funds not to destroy trading records on euro bets, according to a person with knowledge of the requests, as Europe and the U.S. step up scrutiny of the funds’ role in the Greek debt crisis.

The Department of Justice sent requests to save the records to at least some of the hedge funds whose executives attended a dinner hosted by New York-based research and brokerage firm Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. on Feb. 8, said the person, who declined to be identified because the information is private……

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher called for an international pact to break up banks whose collapse would threaten the financial system, a position that goes beyond other Fed officials.

“The disagreeable but sound thing to do” for firms regarded as “too big to fail” would be to “dismantle them over time into institutions that can be prudently managed and regulated across borders,” Fisher said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York…..

American International Group Inc., the bailed-out insurer, may be allowed by the U.S. paymaster to boost salaries for some of its highest-compensated executives, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Among AIG’s 25 top-paid managers, some will get raises of less than 10 percent, while others will have their pay cut, according to one of the people, who declined to be identified because final determinations haven’t been made. The reductions would be smaller than in 2009, the person said. An announcement may be made this month, the people said…..

Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor who faces a June trial on federal corruption charges, proclaimed his innocence during a campus appearance tonight as he noted the oddity of lecturing on government ethics.

“Many of you must think it’s kind of ironic that I would agree and accept an opportunity to come here and talk to you about ethics in government,” he said. “For all the courage and testicular virility you think you have, if I did the things they said I did, and I did wrong things like they want you to believe I did, I’d be nowhere near this event.”…..

Kissel Said Indicted for Murder in Husband’s Death - Bloomberg

Nancy Kissel, who claimed she killed her Merrill Lynch & Co. banker husband in self-defense, was indicted yesterday a second time for murder, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Kissel’s lawyer Simon Clarke said today a hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 1 and he was still waiting to see the indictment. Clarke said the prosecution had told him the charge was murder. Department of Justice spokeswoman Josephine Chan had no immediate comment…..

Tags: AIG, Charlie Rangel, Ethically challenged politicians, Euro, Fed, Hedge funds, Rod Blagojevich, Too big to fail