The Wall Street Job Report

Close Bloomberg Aide Takes Citi Job

By The New York Times, March 31, 2010

One of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s closest advisers is bidding farewell to City Hall to take a job on Wall Street.

On Tuesday, Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler, who manages the New York City’s Police, Fire and Transportation Departments and the Office of Labor Relations, and who is arguably Mr. Bloomberg’s most powerful aide, said he would take a job atCitigroup in May, The New York Times’s Michael Barbaro reported.

Mr. Skyler will become an executive vice president at Citigroup, focusing on the firm’s relationships with reporters, investors and government agencies.

Joining him in the exodus: Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey, the mayor’s political guru and chief of government relations, who will soon leave City Hall for a position at the mayor’s company, Bloomberg L.P., and James Anderson, Mr. Bloomberg’s communications director, who took a job with the mayor’s charitable foundation.

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UBS Sees Fixed Income Unit Revenue Near $2.3 Billion

By Reuters for The New York Times, March 30, 2010

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS expects first-quarter revenue in its rebuilt fixed income business to be slightly below $2.3 billion, it said on Tuesday.

The fixed income division made a loss of 547 million Swiss francs ($516 million) in 2009, following a loss of 31.9 billion francs in 2008, which brought the bank to the brink of collapse and forced the Swiss government to bail it out.

News agency Bloomberg had reported that first-quarter revenue at the unit would be around $2.3 billion.

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If women ran Wall Street? Geithner likes the idea

Karey Wutkowski for Reuters.com, March 29, 2010

(Reuters) - If women ran Wall Street, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's job cleaning up the bloodied financial markets might not be so tough.

In opening a Women in Finance Symposium that brought together top female government figures such as Sheila Bair and Mary Schapiro, Geithner said he recently read an article asking what it would be like if women ran the hyper-competitive money hub of the United States.

"It's an excellent question. But kind of a low bar," Geithner joked, eliciting laughs from the gathering in the historic Treasury Cash Room. "How, you might ask, could women not have done better?"

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MSSB lures away Merrill adviser Leif Olson

Helen Kearney, Reuters, March 29, 2010

NEW YORK - Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has poached a top adviser from Merrill Lynch to join its office in Bradenton, Florida.

Leif Olson moved to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, a joint venture between Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc, on Friday. He previously spent over 15 years at Merrill Lynch, a unit of Bank of America Corp, according to FINRA filings. Olson oversaw $150 million in client assets and generated $1.3 million in fees and commissions.

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Synopsis: Leif Olson has left Merrill Lynch to join Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. 

AIG Sells Asset Management Firm for $277 Million

Ken Sweet, FOXBusiness.com, March 29, 2010

Government-owned insurance company American International Group (AIG: 34.35, 0.18, 0.53%) said Monday that it has sold a portion of its asset-management firm PineBridge Investments for $277 million, the latest in AIG's divestitures to repay American taxpayers.

PineBridge, which manages approximately $87.3 billion in assets for both institutional and individual investors, was purchased by Asia-based private equity firm Pacific Century Group. 

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Synopsis: Details on the latest sale of AIG in its effort to raise capital and pay back the TARP funds. 

Citigroup: US to sell its stake in bailed-out bank

By BBC News, March 29, 2010

The US government is preparing to sell its 27% stake in Citigroup, in what would be one of the largest share sales in history.

Some 7.7bn shares in the bailed-out bank will be sold in tranches throughout 2010, the US Treasury said.

The sale would mark another stage in the re-building of confidence in Wall Street's recovery from recession.

Citigroup, which has posted more than $100bn in write-downs, required three government rescues in 2008 and 2009.

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WaMu Files Reorganization Plan Supported by JPMorgan (Update2)

By Dawn McCarty for Bloomberg.com, March 27, 2010

(Bloomberg) -- Washington Mutual Inc., the former parent of the biggest bank to fail, filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan and disclosure statement supported by creditors and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Washington Mutual, or WaMu, will establish a liquidating trust that will distribute funds in excess of about $7 billion, including $4 billion of previously disputed assets on deposit with JPMorgan, according to court documents filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

“The proposed plan will provide substantial recoveries for the company’s creditors and reflects Washington Mutual Inc.’s diligent efforts over the last 18 months to maximize the value of the bankruptcy estate,” WaMu said yesterday in a statement.

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UPDATE 1-MOVES-Citigroup, ANZ, BofA, ABN Amro and others

By Reuters.com, March 29, 2010
(Adds Rodman & Renshaw, Ernst & Young, Citigroup and others)
March 29 (Reuters) - The following financial services industry appointments were announced Monday. To inform us of other job changes, send an email to moves@thomsonreuters.com.
RODMAN & RENSHAW CAPITAL GROUP INC (RODM.O)

The group's investment bank, Rodman & Renshaw LLC appointed five senior analysts to its equity research department. Ashok Kumar joins as senior technology analyst and Lewis Fan as senior China analyst, while Suraj Kalia was named senior medical device analyst.

Michael Higgins joins as senior specialty pharmaceuticals analyst and Douglas Rainwater as senior bank analyst. All five are also managing directors.

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RBS Sells German Unit to GE Capital

By The Associated Press for The New York Times, March 29, 2010

LONDON (AP) -- Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC said Monday it has agreed to sell RBS Factoring GmbH, a unit that provides loans secured against company invoices, to GE Capital.

Terms of the sale, one of a series of divestments by the government-controlled bank, were not disclosed.

RBS Factoring's loans are secured against up to 90 percent of the value of a company's unpaid invoices.

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How Lehman's Hidden Inner Circle Brought the Bank Down

By Vicky Ward for The Huffington Post, March 28, 2010

Senator Spencer Bacchus, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee is quite right to write to Lehman bankruptcy examiner Anton J. Valukas and ask to review communications between the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission about Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, in preparation for an April 20 hearing into the Valukas report. He wants to know what exactly the SEC found out while it was inside Lehman -- or more importantly what it missed.

In his letter to Valukas. Bacchus wrote that Lehman "used accounting gimmicks to hide its debt and mask its insolvency...More disturbing, the examiner's report also describes what appear to be significant failings on the part of officials" at the SEC and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

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UPDATE 1-Bank of America continues Asia hiring push

By Joe Rauch for Reuters.com, March 29, 2010

* Hires Asia Pacific execs in treasury, financial sales

* Moves are part of continuing international push

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 29 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) has hired four new executives in its global banking business, including three hires in Asia, as part of its continued push into international banking.

Bank of America is the largest U.S. consumer bank by assets and is looking to expand its comparatively small international business, particularly in Asia.

Charles Alexander, joining Bank of America from Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, will start in June as head of Asia Pacific corporate banking coverage.

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UBS Cuts 200 Jobs In Its U.S. Brokerage Unit: Source

By Reuters for The New York Times, March 26, 2010

(Reuters) - Swiss banking giant UBS AG has slashed about 200 jobs in its U.S. brokerage unit, a source told Reuters.

The job losses account for nearly 1.2 percent of the brokerage unit's 16,295 employees.

A bulk of the job cuts were announced in the past two days, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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UPDATE 3-MOVES-Hypo, BofA, JPMorgan, FT Partners, Citi

By Reuters, March 25, 2010

(Adds Nomura, Foley Hoag)

(Reuters) - The following financial services industry appointments were announced Thursday. To inform us of other job changes, send an email to moves@thomsonreuters.com.

NOMURA (8604.T)

Nomura Securities International said Michael Rietbrock joined the firm as head of U.S. Equity Research. Rietbrock joins from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was director of U.S. Equity Research.

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Nikko Cordial to Hire 1,000 More Staff Over 3 Years (Update2)

(Adds Nikko CEO’s comment in fourth paragraph.)

By Takahiko Hyuga for Business Week, March 26, 2010

(Bloomberg) -- Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.’s brokerage and investment banking unit plans to boost staff by 14 percent over the next three years to tap demand for underwriting securities and advising on takeovers in Japan.

Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. aims to hire 1,000 people, including new graduates and experienced workers, during the period ending March 31, 2013, it said today in a statement. Nikko Cordial, acquired from Citigroup Inc. for 545 billion yen ($5.9 billion) in October, now employs 7,000 workers.

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Credit Suisse's Brady Dougan tops investment bank pay charts

Credit Suisse's 13-man executive board, which includes Mr Dougan, collectively received $138m in 2009 Photo: Getty

By James Quinn for Telegraph.co.uk, March 25, 2010

The chief executive of Credit Suisse received $17.9m (£12m) in 2009, making him the best paid head of any investment bank on either side of the Atlantic.

American-born Brady Dougan, who has run the Swiss bank since May 2007, saw his total pay increase seven-fold last year as a result of the bank's return to profit. He was paid a base salary of $1.16m with the remaining bonus falling due through long-dated deferred shares and options which could increase or decrease depending on the bank's performance.
The total amount is just shy of the $20.7 Mr Dougan was paid in 2007, a record year for pay at the Swiss bank.

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