TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
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Friday, January 10, 2014
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES |
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M & A Dish Shares Drop After It Withdraws Bid for LightSquaredINVESTMENT BANKING Blackstone Hires UBS Banker to Lead Energy Advisory GroupPRIVATE EQUITY Apollo Secures $18.4 Billion War Chest for Private EquityHEDGE FUNDS British Regulators Said to Prepare Charges Against Ex-TraderOFFERINGS Euronext Changes Up ManagementVENTURE CAPITAL New York to Host Bitcoin BreakfastLEGAL/REGULATORY Attorney General Vows to Crack Down on 'Insider Trading 2.0' |
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BY SYDNEY EMBER
BANKS BRACE FOR RECKONING
When the dust
has settled on investigations into the role of banks in the mortgage
crisis, fines could total nearly $50 billion, and that does not include
the $13 billion that JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Peter Eavis report in DealBook. Put into context, the $50 billion would equal roughly half the total annual profit of large American banks in 2012.
JPMorgan's record mortgage settlement in November has caused trepidation for many Wall Street banks as they and their lawyers try to calculate how much they could owe the government for their role in selling troubled mortgages leading up to the financial crisis. Ms. Silver-Greenberg and Mr. Eavis write: "The legal barrage has been generating mounting frustration among some top executives. The bankers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, say the government has taken an arbitrary, one-size-fits-all approach that could force them to pay more than their fair share." "While the potential settlements could be painful for banks, they also would enable them to close a troubled chapter," they write.
INSIDER TRADING TRIAL RUNDOWN
Lawyers for
Mathew Martoma, a former SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund manager charged
with insider trading, tried to keep evidence that Mr. Martoma had been
expelled from Harvard Law School under wraps. But on Thursday, the
secret got out after the judge presiding over the trial ordered relevant
court papers unsealed, Matthew Goldstein and Alexandra Stevenson report in DealBook.
Mr. Martoma was expelled from the prestigious institution in 1999 for
creating a false transcript of his grades when he was applying for a
clerkship with a federal judge.
The disclosure of the information coincided with the selection of a 12-member jury, a difficult process that took three days. The jury consists of seven women and five men, including a chief executive for a shoe and accessory company, a bus operator, an insurance underwriter, an employee of an accounting firm and a labor lawyer. Opening statements are set to begin today.
LAWYERS AS BUSINESSMEN
For more than
50 years, the Washington law firm Patton Boggs has been a major force in
legal, lobbying and business circles. But even the storied law firm is
being forced to adapt to a changing industry that is increasingly
requiring firms to act like business strategists, Elizabeth Olson writes in DealBook.
Like many of its peers, the Washington-based firm, which has represented corporations like the Mars candy company and Exxon Mobil, is "seeking a rapid way to bolster its revenue and expand its practice areas through a merger," Ms. Olson writes. But even "casting about for a merger partner can open up a firm to speculation in the current ravenously competitive landscape."
CHRIS CHRISTIE'S 'INNER JAMIE DIMON'
"Jamie Dimon's tale of woe is proving an uncanny inspiration" to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Jeffrey Goldfarb of Reuters Breakingviews writes.
"The two men share a no-nonsense leadership style, but perhaps also a
blind spot to the repercussions their behaviors foster further down the
organizations they run."
ON THE AGENDA
The jobs report
for December comes out at 8:30 a.m. Two regional Federal Reserve
presidents are scheduled to give separate speeches on the economy - Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Richmond Fed, goes on in Raliegh, N.C., at 8:45 a.m and James Bullard takes the stage in Indianapolis at 1:05 p.m. William H. Gross, the co-founder of Pimco, is on CNBC at 2 p.m. Looking ahead: NBC hosts the Golden Globes on Sunday at 8 p.m.
SNAPCHAT SAYS SORRY
Snapchat finally apologized on Thursday for a security vulnerability that allowed a group of security researchers to expose the names and phone numbers
of 4.6 million Snapchat users on Jan. 1. "We are sorry for any problems
this issue may have caused you and we really appreciate your patience
and support," Snapchat wrote in a blog post. (h/t The Verge)
Contact: @melbournecoal | E-mail
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS »
Dish Shares Drop After It Withdraws Bid for LightSquared
Shares in Dish
were down more than 2.5 percent on Thursday after a lawyer for
LightSquared said in bankruptcy court that its suitor had terminated its
offer.
Striving to Be the Berkshire Hathaway of China
Fosun
International is plain about its ambition to emulate Warren Buffett's
investment firm, buying up companies at home and abroad. Its latest deal
is for Portugal's largest insurance company.
Rolls-Royce Approached Wartsila, but Talks Have Ended
An acquisition of the Finnish manufacturer Wartsila would have expanded Rolls-Royce's marine engine and energy businesses.
Regulators Approve Merger of Omnicom and Publicis
European
antitrust regulators gave the go-ahead to the $35 billion merger of the
United States advertising agency Omnicom and Publicis, its French peer,
Reuters reports.
INVESTMENT BANKING »
Blackstone Hires UBS Banker to Lead Energy Advisory Group
James R.
Schaefer was most recently global head of the power and renewable energy
group at UBS. He will be a senior managing director at Blackstone
Advisory Partners.
Analyst Suggests UBS Spin Off Investment Bank and Revive Warburg Name
In a research
report on Thursday, Christopher Wheeler, a banking analyst at
Medicobanca, said that it was a "strategic consideration" for UBS to
spin off its investment bank.
JPMorgan to End Prepaid Card Business
JPMorgan Chase
said it planned to sell or wind down its prepaid card business for
corporate payrolls and government tax refunds and benefits, Reuters
reports. The move is part of an effort to simplify its risk operations.
Bankers' Bonus Blues
A mediocre
fourth quarter means that bankers in New York and London are unlikely to
improve on their total compensation from 2012 - and that could be the
case for the next couple of years, say Antony Currie and Dominic Elliott
of Reuters Breakingviews.
Why Are High-Level Bankers Not Being Prosecuted?
A federal judge
asks why no one has been prosecuted when there is a widespread
conclusion that fraud at every level permeated the bubble in
mortgage-backed securities, Teresa Tritch writes in a New York Times
Op-Ed piece.
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PRIVATE EQUITY »
Apollo Secures $18.4 Billion War Chest for Private Equity
Apollo's newest
fund, the largest in its history, underscores investors' confidence
that firm can find buying opportunities at a time when stock prices have
risen drastically.
K.K.R. Raises $2 Billion Credit Fund
Kohlberg Kravis
Roberts & Company is expanding its business of investing in
distressed debt, and it said on Thursday that the amount of money raised
for the new fund was double its initial goal.
Hellman & Friedman Exploring Sale of Catalina
The private
equity firm Hellman & Friedman has approached other private equity
firms to seek offers for Catalina Marketing Corporation, Reuters
reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.
Catalina offers personalized digital shopping for consumers.
Healogics Prepares Sale
Healogics, a
wound care provider owned by the private equity firm Metalmark Capital,
is exploring a sale valuing the company at nearly $1 billion, Reuters
writes.
K.K.R. to Open Canadian Office
The private
equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company plans to open an
office in Calgary, the capital of Canada's oil patch, The Wall Street
Journal reports. The office will be the first in Canada and will focus
on energy investment.
HEDGE FUNDS »
British Regulators Said to Prepare Charges Against Ex-Trader
Julian Rifat, a
former trader arrested nearly four years ago in a crackdown on insider
trading in London, is expected to be charged criminally in the coming
weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Elliott to Accept Increased Tender Offer for Celesio
The
announcement by the hedge fund Elliott Management ends an impasse that
threatened to block the $8.3 billion deal by the McKesson Corporation
for the German pharmaceutical wholesaler Celesio.
Former Citigroup Chief Joins Ex-SAC Reinsurer
Sanford I.
Weill, 80, the former chairman and chief executive of Citigroup, was
named chairman of the board at Hamilton Insurance Group, a holding
company for a reinsurer based in Bermuda that was sold by SAC Capital
Advisors, The Financial Times writes.
I.P.O./OFFERINGS »
Euronext Changes Up Management
The European
exchange operator Euronext has shuffled its management ahead of its
initial public offering, The Financial Times reports. Euronext's parent
company, United States-based IntercontinentalExchange, is planning to
spin off the company this year.
Chinese Start-Up Delays I.P.O.
Jiangsu
Aosaikang Pharmaceutical Company, a maker of cancer drugs, is postponing
its $669 million initial public offering, which would have been the
largest for Chinese start-ups, Bloomberg News reports.
VENTURE CAPITAL »
New York to Host Bitcoin Breakfast
The New York
City Economic Development Corporation and the Partnership Fund for New
York City are hosting an invitation-only breakfast discussion on
Bitcoin, ReCode reports. Invitations have gone out to banking and policy
officials, as well as entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Young Tech Workers Transforming San Francisco
Young
technology workers are moving out of the suburbs to San Francisco in
droves, attracting venture capitalists to the heart of the technology
scene, The Wall Street Journal reports.
LEGAL/REGULATORY »
Attorney General Vows to Crack Down on 'Insider Trading 2.0'
The New York
State attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, said he planned to
investigate brokerage firms that might have provided early market-moving
information to preferred clients.
JPMorgan Lost Madoff in a Blizzard of Paper
Documents
released this week by federal prosecutors in their settlement of
JPMorgan Chase's involvement with Bernard L. Madoff's fraud showed that a
combination of turf wars and incompetence combined to facilitate the
biggest Ponzi scheme ever, Floyd Norris writes in the High & Low
Finance column in The New York Times.
Cadwalader Picks Woolery as Next Chairman
Last February,
James C. Woolery left investment banking to return to the practice of
law. Less than a year later, he has been tapped to lead his new law
firm.
Apple and Samsung Agree to Meet Mediator
Apple and
Samsung Electronics agreed to meet with a mediator before their next
trial to fight over smartphone patents, scheduled for March, the Bits
blog writes.
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