Wall Street Folly

Tags: Banks, Barack Obama, Bears, Bonuses, Carlyle Group, CDS, Clawbacks, Compensation, David Rubenstein, Davos, George Soros, Jeremy Grantham, Sovereign debt, Taxes

Tags: Barclays, Ben Bernanke, Bob Diamon, Carlyle Group, David Rubinstein, Fed, Henry Paulson, Nouriel Roubini, Tim Geithner, U.S. Treasury

• U.A.E. Leaders Try to Ease Concerns Over Dubai
• Dubai World in Talks on $26 Billion of Debt, Rest Is ‘Stable’
• AIG closes debt for equity deal with NY Fed
• Madoff Investor Rosenman Loses Bid to Recover Assets
• GE, Vivendi Agree on $5.8 Billion Value for NBC Stake
• Cramer reverses his stance on stock-trade levy
• SEC Watchdog Eyes Insider Trading Probe
• Carlyle Group sued over collapsed fund
• CBOE to demutualise ‘within days’ Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AIG, Bernie Madoff, Carlyle, CBOE, Credit Crunch, Dubai, Jim Cramer, retailers, SEC, Sovereign wealth funds

SEC Proposes Money-Manager Rules After Madoff Fraud
- Bloomberg

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moved to impose new rules on money managers to safeguard client holdings after Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme cost investors $65 billion. 

SEC commissioners voted 5-0 today on a proposal to subject about 9,600 investment advisers to annual surprise inspections by independent auditors. About 370 money managers with direct custody of client holdings would also face yearly compliance exams to ensure they have adequate procedures to protect assets. 

“We are taking this action in response to major investment scams such as Madoff,” SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said at a public meeting in Washington. “Our proposals would greatly enhance the independent checks on client assets.”…

Carlyle to Pay $20 Million to Resolve Cuomo Probe
- Bloomberg

Carlyle Group agreed to end “play for pay” tactics in its investment business and pay $20 million to resolve a pension fund probe by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. 

Under the agreement, Carlyle will adopt Cuomo’s code of conduct, which bans investment firms from using placement agents or other third parties to negotiate with public pension funds to obtain investments. To avoid pay-for-play schemes, investment firms will be prohibited under the code from doing business with a public pension fund for two years after the firm makes a campaign contribution to a public official who can influence the fund’s investment decisions….

Morgan Stanley fined over trader’s mispricing
- Financial Times

Morgan Stanley has been fined £1.4m ($2.1m) by the UK’s financial regulator after weak control of its credit derivatives desk allowed a rogue trader significantly to overprice his position for six months.

The Financial Services Authority on Wednesday penalised the bank for its failure to prevent the mispricing by Matthew Piper, then a trader in complex credit derivative products.

The problem came to light in May last year and Mr Piper was fired in September following an internal investigation. On Wednesday the regulator said it had banned him from the industry and fined him £105,000…..

Tags: Andrew Cuomo, Carlyle, Derivatives, Hedge funds, Morgan Stanley, Rogue Traders, SEC