Friday, August 30, 2013
TOP STORY
Week in Review: A $125 Billion Bet on a Multitrillion-Dollar Market
Verizon
Communications is in talks with Vodafone to buy the British
telecommunication giant's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless. The deal, worth
at least $125 billion, would be one of the biggest takeovers in
history, but the burgeoning wireless industry makes the buyout
attractive.
"With 10 billion connections worldwide, the number of cellular
subscriptions is on track to outgrow the human population," reports
Michael J. de la Merced.
THURSDAY, AUG. 29
JPMorgan Hiring Put China's Elite on an Easy Track
A hiring
program intended to weed out nepotism in the bank's China operations
instead has led to a federal bribery investigation in the United States,
interviews and a government document show.
Verizon in Talks to Buy Vodafone's Stake in Its Wireless Unit
Vodafone of
Britain could sell its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon
in a deal that analysts say could fetch as much as $125 billion.
Shutdown at Nasdaq Is Traced to Software
The Nasdaq OMX Group attributed last week's three-hour trading halt to a surge of data that overwhelmed its server.
U.S. Scrutinizes Private Equity Hiring of Ex-Army Officer
Government
lawyers have asked the private equity firm headed by the prominent
financier Lynn Tilton for information related to its recent hiring of a
former Army official.
Swiss Agree on Penalties for Banks That Aided Tax Cheats
Switzerland and
the United States reached a watershed deal to punish Swiss banks that
helped wealthy Americans stash money in hidden offshore accounts, ending
years of bank secrecy and tax evasion.
Blackstone Settles I.P.O. Class Action Suit
Blackstone has
agreed to pay $85 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a group of
investors that accused it of misrepresenting some investments ahead of
its 2007 initial public offering.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 28
U.S. and Switzerland Are Close to Deal on Penalizing Banks in Tax Case
A final
settlement would likely require banks to pay a fine to the United States
equivalent to 20 percent to 50 percent of the value of their undeclared
American accounts, a person briefed on the matter said.
In N.Y. Mayoral Race, Small Checks From Hedge Fund Giants
New York law
caps individual contributions to mayoral candidates, but records for
2013 are notable for their paucity of donations from hedge fund
managers.
TUESDAY, AUG. 27
Merrill Lynch in Big Payout for Bias Case
The brokerage
firm has agreed to pay $160 million to settle a racial bias lawsuit that
wound through the federal courts for eight years, including two appeals
to the United States Supreme Court.
Regulators Prepare Penalties for JPMorgan
Federal
regulators are preparing separate enforcement actions and fines against
JPMorgan Chase stemming from the way it collected overdue bills from
consumers during the recession.
Former JPMorgan Trader Surrenders in Spain in 'London Whale' Case
Javier Martin-Artajo was released soon after his arrest on Tuesday morning, beginning what could be a lengthy extradition process over charges that he hid billions in trading losses.
Deal Professor: A Simple Solution on C.E.O. Pay Is Not So Simple
The Dodd-Frank
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act required
companies to compare their chief executive pay with that of their
employees, but carrying it out may cost millions, says Steven M.
Davidoff.
MONDAY, AUG. 26
BATS and Direct Edge to Merge, Taking On Older Rivals
Combining BATS
Global Markets and Direct Edge will vault the new company past Nasdaq to
become the second-largest exchange operator in the United States, as
the industry continues to face pressure to consolidate.
Growth in Global Disputes Brings Big Paychecks for Law Firms
Some legal heavyweights in the United States are benefiting from a growing number of clashes over complex international deals.
DealBook Column: Five Years After TARP, Misgivings on Bonuses
Henry M.
Paulson Jr. tells Andrew Ross Sorkin: "There was such a total lack of
awareness from the firms that paid big bonuses during this extraordinary
time."
His Links Severed, Ackman Sells Stake in J.C. Penney
William A. Ackman sold his roughly 18 percent stake in J.C. Penney at $12.90 a share on Monday,
severing all ties to the retailer two weeks after he resigned from the
board. At that price, he is saddled with a loss of about $473 million.
Third Point Hedge Fund Increases Sotheby's Stake
Daniel S.
Loeb's hedge fund, Third Point, is now one of Sotheby's biggest
shareholders, with a 5.7 percent stake, according to a filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
SUNDAY, AUG. 25
Shoeshines Keep Wall Street in the Black (or Maybe Brown)
In-house
shoeshine service has proved resilient, surviving the rise of technology
and even the 2008 financial crisis, which snuffed out many of Wall
Street's quirks.
Amgen Buys Producer of Drugs for Cancer
Amgen has huge
sales of drugs that help patients cope with chemotherapy and counter
some of the effects of cancer, but it has long wanted drugs that
directly attack the tumors themselves. In buying Onyx, it acquires some.
SATURDAY, AUG. 24
Platinum Card and Text Alert, via Pawnshop
As banks zero
in on more affluent customers and close branches in poor areas,
pawnshops are stepping into the void to offer an array of services.
Amgen Said to Be Near Deal to Buy Onyx for $10.5 Billion
The biotech
giant Amgen is near a deal to buy Onyx Pharmaceuticals, a maker of
cancer-fighting drugs, for about $125 a share, people briefed on the
matter said on Saturday.
DEALBOOK HIGHLIGHTS
Ex-Goldman Trader Fined $500,000
A former
Goldman Sachs trader who pleaded guilty in a criminal case earlier this
year to fabricating huge positions to protect his bonus agreed on Friday to pay a $500,000 fine in a related civil matter.
News Analysis: Tax Haven Closes for Wealthy Americans
A tax deal reached between Switzerland and the United States on Thursday effectively puts an end to the status of the small Alpine country as a tax haven for wealthy Americans.
Deal Professor: A Lesson for Boardroom Battles
A proxy battle
involving an Israeli company listed in the United States could serve as a
lesson for how the proxy access rule could be used as a weapon in
boardroom battles, says Steven M. Davidoff.
Verizon-Vodafone Deal Would Be a Big Payday for Deal Makers
Should Verizon
Communications successfully buy out Vodafone's 45 percent stake in
Verizon Wireless - analysts suggest that the transaction would be valued
at more than $125 billion - it would consummate one of the largest
takeovers on record.
China Brokerage Firm Fined $85 Million Over 'Fat-Finger' Trades
The Chinese securities regulator said the firm's actions caused a 6 percent spike in the Shanghai share index.
America Movil Threatens to Pull Bid for Dutch Cellphone Operator
The Latin
American telecommunications giant has threatened to walk away from its
proposed 7.2 billion euro, or $9.5 billion, bid for the Dutch cellphone
operator KPN after a local foundation moved to block the takeover.
Buzz Tracker
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Not Crying for Argentina but Fearful of a Ruling
In the High
& Low Finance column, Floyd Norris examines why the United States
Treasury and the International Monetary Fund are concerned about an
appeals court decision that would force Argentina to pay all its
creditors equally and hold processing banks responsible if the country
did not.
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Week in Verse
'Call Me'
Al Green has been singing about the importance of the telecommunications for years.