Merrill Lynch - Policy - Research - Conflicts - 2004

http://www.ml.com/media/43347.pdf


The above document contains the policy announced in 2004 in connection with FSA's (UK) requirements.

Merrill Lynch’s policies and actions resolving conflicts of interest include:

(a) the provision of internal guidance and training on the identification of
possible issues of conflicts of interest as and when they arise;

(b) escalation procedures for ensuring that issues identified are referred to
and considered at the appropriate level within the Firm;

(c) Merrill Lynch’s Control Room monitors potential conflicts of interest
arising in connection with the publication of research in the period
before, during and after Investment Banking transactions;

(d) editorial guidelines and procedures for supervisory and compliance
review of research prior to publication;

(e) the Research Department’s Research Recommendation Committee is
required to approve all investment ratings changes.

People Management in Investment Banks

Alexandre Winandy is maintaining the blog People Management in Emerging Markets.

http://peoplemanagementinemergingmarkets.blogspot.com/

He is working in Banking industry. Therefore his posts contain references to investment banking issues. A relevant blog for securities market professionals.

I shall give more specific details about the posts in the blog in due course of time.

Good Time to Invest for Long Term Portfolios

IMF forecasts the worst year post world war II will be 2009. Persons with savings can acquire equity share portfolios at probably less than fair values in this year.

Why so?

Because securities market intermediaries have suffered enough losses and do not have the means to acquire the securities at fair values. These intermediaries who used to buy first in both primary and secondary capital markets and then later on distribute to genuine buyers have no capacity now. The systems are broken in the markets. There is a big doubt in everybody's mind about the future. People do not park their money in assets. It is better to be in bank cash rather than to be securities.

That gives the opportunity to people with genuine savings to acquire some assets at less than their fair values. But the volatility in markets will be there and strain you. Benjamin Graham, the most conservative value proponent said after you buy, the market may go down by 50%. Can you still believe your value calculations?

William K. Black's Article on Mortgage Fraud

William K. Black is Assoc. Professor, Univ. of Missouri, Kansas City;
He was a Senior regulator during S&L debacle

His article "The Two Documents Everyone Should Read to Better Understand the Crisis" dated 23.4.2009 is an interesting read.

He began his article with the statement "As a white-collar criminologist and former financial regulator much of my research studies what causes financial markets to become profoundly dysfunctional."

The two documents that he is referring to are

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2250

and

http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/FraudReport8Nov07Fitch.pdf

Both these documents talk of possible risks and problems in mortgage investing.





http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-k-black/the-two-documents-everyon_b_169813.html

Goldman Sachs Hiring Process for India

Hiring Process
Goldman Sachs has been recruiting in India at an accelerated pace. Because positions in the Bangalore and Mumbai offices require a range of skills and experience, India can be a launch pad to working in other offices around the world. As with all of our employees, you will have access to career mobility within your division or in another division or location. And our India offices provide the opportunity to take on more responsibility early in your career so your success can grow alongside the firm’s.

While the interview process may seem lengthy, it has many advantages. It helps us to determine if you are a good fit with Goldman Sachs. It is also your opportunity to see if Goldman Sachs is right for you, and we encourage you to ask questions of us. The benefit is that once you start, you know you’re working in the right place.

For Interns, New Analysts and New Associates:
We offer student internships as well as full-time positions across a majority of our divisions in India. Goldman Sachs is committed to helping graduates prepare for a successful financial career. We encourage students to intern with us based on their area of interest, and summer interns are frequently offered full-time jobs. We also visit a large number of colleges across the country, looking to hire students for various divisions across the firm.

Goldman Sachs looks for candidates with well-rounded résumés that include a strong academic background, extracurricular activities and community work. During the interview process, we look for candidates who display excellent communication skills, maturity and a take-charge attitude – team players with a passion for excellence. Full-time positions are offered a year in advance; therefore, we assign a Goldman Sachs buddy to each graduate who accepts a position. This buddy stays in touch throughout the year and is available to answer questions. We also invite new hires and their families to visit our offices on Parents Day and to meet with alumni and senior management.

The process:
• Goldman Sachs occasionally gives campus presentations prior to the scheduled recruitment day. These are good opportunities to learn about the firm and see what areas interest you.
• On recruitment day, visit the Goldman Sachs presentation at your campus and bring your résumé.
• Interviews and any necessary tests are conducted on campus.
• Offers for internships and full-time positions are extended the same day.

For Experienced Professionals:
Goldman Sachs finds qualified candidates through recruitment agencies, employee referrals and internal and external online job databases.

The process involves multiple rounds of interviews with the hiring managers and their teams.

http://www2.goldmansachs.com/careers/our-firm/locations/india/hiring-process.html

Some Information on UK Financial Jobs 2009 Queens University Belfast

34 page guide note

http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/careers/FileStore/Filetoupload,125582,en.pdf

The A.G. Edwards and Wachovia Securities account integration

16 February 2009

The A.G. Edwards and Wachovia Securities account integration is complete.
If you have converted your A.G. Edwards online access to Wachovia Securities' Access Online, you will be able to log in to Access Online to view all of your account balances and positions.


29/1/2009
New enrollments into former A.G. Edwards client account access service and online bill pay will no longer be accepted.


Conversion From A.G. Edwards' Client Account Access to Access Online

Clients who currently use A.G. Edwards client account access service will convert to Wachovia Securities' Access Online ("Access Online"). From Feb. 10 - April 30, when you log in to client account access, you will be given the opportunity to go through an easy, online conversion process that will establish your user ID (user name) and password for Access Online.


2/10/2009 to 4/30/2009
Take Action:
Convert your A.G. Edwards online access and online bill pay account(s) to Wachovia Securities' Access Online.

2/18/2009 to 4/30/2009

Take Action:
If you use personal financial management software, such as Quicken® or Microsoft® Money, you will need to transition your importing capabilities from A.G. Edwards to Wachovia Securities.

3/31/2009 to 4/30/2009

You will no longer be able to go to client account access, although you will still be able to convert your A.G. Edwards online access to Access Online. In addition, you will still be able to import former A.G. Edwards account data into Quicken®, Microsoft® Money and TurboTax®.

http://www.wachoviasecurities.com/ws/changes.html

Layoffs by Goldman Sachs - 2009

7 February 2009

According to an insider, Goldman partners are drawing up plans for the next round of cuts, but added that a decision on specific numbers has yet to be taken. The percentage could be around 10%.

Around 6,000 of Goldman's 30,067 staff are employed in the UK.

http://layofftracker.blogspot.com/2009/02/goldman-sachs-to-cut-10-of-workforce.html




2 December 2008

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has cut its Dubai-based work force, a bank official told the Gulf Times.

http://www.thedeal.com/dealscape/2008/12/bank_layoffs.php

IMF Raising Resources

IMF wants to double its lending ability from $250 billion to $500 billion. To achieve that, IMF is finalzing a $100 billion loan from Japan and is planning to issue bonds.

The Japanese loan would be structured in a way similar to two IMF programmes called the General Arrangements to Borrow and the New Arrangments to Borrow, which provide $50 billion in additional funding if the IMF runs through its $200 billion core financing.

Mint, 31 January 2009
www.livemint.com

Madoff Clients List and Case Related Dockets

http://madoffsearch.com

You can search the site for various clients of Madoff. It has addresses of the clients.

According to some financial advisors, it is a very good prospecting iist. Lawyers also can find people whom then can represent.

This type of information is routinely released during bankruptcy proceedings.

Dockets related to the case

http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-nysdce/case_no-1:2008cv10791/case_id-336993/


Securities and Exchange Commission v. Madoff et al
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Plaintiff: Securities and Exchange Commission
Defendant: Bernard L. Madoff and Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC
Receiver: Lee Richards

Case Number: 1:2008cv10791
Filed: December 11, 2008

Court: New York Southern District Court
Office: Securities/Commodities Office [ Court Info ]
County: NewYork
Presiding Judge: Judge Louis L. Stanton

Nature of Suit: Other Statutes - Securities/Commodities/Exchanges
Cause: U.S. Government Plaintiff
Jurisdiction: U.S. Government Plaintiff
Jury Demanded By: 15:77 Securities Fraud



Access this case on the New York Southern District Court's Electronic Court Filings (ECF) System

https://ecf.nysd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/iqquerymenu.pl?336993

This is a Restricted Web Site for Official Court Business only. Unauthorized entry is prohibited and subject to prosecution under Title 18 of the U.S. Code. All activities and access attempts are logged.

Search for Party Aliases
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CitiGroup Restructuring 2009 January

January 16, 2009

Citi (NYSE: C) today announced it will realign into two businesses, Citicorp and Citi Holdings, to optimize the company's global businesses for future profitable growth and opportunities. This structure will enable Citi to focus on driving the performance of its core businesses and, separately, on realizing value from non-core assets.

The strategic restructuring creates:

Citicorp, which will focus on leveraging the competitive advantages of the company's global universal bank in more than 100 countries, and,
Citi Holdings, which will be made up of brokerage and retail asset management, local consumer finance and a special asset pool – whose management will focus on tightly managing risks and losses, and maximizing the value of these assets.


Citicorp

Citicorp will be a relationship-focused global bank to businesses and consumers. It will include "core" Citi properties and have a presence in high-growth emerging markets around the world. Citicorp will have worldwide deposit-taking capabilities that can be put to work with consumer and institutional customers in a diversified way to produce the highest returns, giving it a unique ability to deliver global capabilities locally and serve local clients globally.

Citicorp's Global Institutional Bank will consist of:

Global Transaction Services: an industry-leading business with a global network in about 140 countries.
Corporate and Investment Bank: world-class relationship banking offering full range of advisory, underwriting, lending and market-making services; now re-focused with a lower risk profile.
Citi Private Bank: global banking serving high-net-worth individuals, including about 30 percent of the world's billionaires.
Citicorp's Retail Bank will consist of:

Branded card businesses globally.
Regional consumer and commercial banking franchises in the U.S., Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
We anticipate that Citicorp will have assets of approximately $1.1 trillion and will be approximately 65 percent deposit funded.

Citi Holdings

Citi Holdings will be a group of non-core businesses that include attractive long-term businesses with strong market positions. However, they do not sufficiently enhance the capabilities of Citi's core business, and in many ways compete for its resources.

The Citi Holdings management team will seek to maximize the value of these businesses by running them well, restructuring and managing them through this tough economic cycle, and taking advantage of value-enhancing disposition and combination opportunities as they emerge. These businesses and assets will initially include:

Brokerage and asset management: including the 49 percent stake in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, as well as Nikko Cordial Securities, Nikko Asset Management and Primerica Financial Services.
Local consumer finance: including CitiFinancial and CitiMortgage in the U.S., and consumer finance operations in Western Europe, Japan, India, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Special asset pool: will manage the assets covered by the loss-sharing agreement with the U.S. government parties in the ring-fenced portfolio; and other non-strategic assets.

Source: Press Release Citi

http://www.citigroup.com/citi/press/2009/090116b.htm

Citi Morgan Joint Venture

Simth Barney Brokerage of Citigroup and Morgan Stanley's Wealth management unit will be merged into a Joint venture (JV)

James Morgan will be the chairman of the JV.

Charles Johnston, president of Citigroup's global wealth management business in the United States and Canada will be the venture's president.

Morgan Stanley will pay citigroup $2.7 billion in cash for an initial 51% stake in the venture. This stake can grow to 100% in five years.

Your Leadership Legacy - Book Information and Review

Your Leadership Legacy: Why Looking Toward the Future Will Make You a Better Leader Today
By Robert M. Galford, Regina Fazio Maruca
Edition: illustrated
Published by Harvard Business Press, 2006
194 pages

Contents

What Kind of Impact Are You Having? 25
Sally Green, Film Producer, Federal Reserve Bank
What Role Are You Playing? 51
truth seeker, natural roles, breaking glass
Your Intentional Legacy 69
legacy statement, George Washington Bridge, desired legacy
Are You Doing the Right Thing? 119
photomosaic, legacy statement, EXHIBIT 6-2
The Need for Judgment 145
Michael Milken, Jeff Nelson, Wendy's
Legacies and the Responsibilities of Leadership 165
centipede, PrintFilmedia, SUCCESSION PLAN
Notes 183
Regina Maruca, Harvard Business Review, Robert Galford
About the Authors 193
GALFORD, Harvard Business Review, Columbia University



Things of interest

Looking forward, people want to achieve success in organizational or performance terms. But looking back, they would like their their efforts to be seen--and felt--in a positive way by the individuals they worked with directly and indirectly."

Legacy thinking allows leaders to put their personal values to work in ways that have long-term impacts on their colleagues and employees--and hence the organization--as well as to assess how their own decisions and actions measure up to their values. The goal is to leave behind you a set of positive and empowering values embedded in the organization.

Thain Compared to Fuld

How Not To Lose Everything
Merrill Lynch miraculously avoids the fate of Lehman Brothers.
By Henry Blodget

http://www.slate.com/id/2200149/

When Thain arrived at Merrill, he did what almost every incoming CEO does in a crisis situation.

he started with a massive write-off and raised billions of dollars of new capital to replace the money the company had lost. When he finished with this housecleaning, Thain pronounced his new firm is in solid shape.

Over the next few quarters, however, as the real-estate and credit markets slid toward the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the value of Merrill's assets continued to deteriorate. Stock price plummeted. Instead of blaming skeptics and short-sellers for Merrill's sagging stock price, several times over the next few quarters, he swallowed his pride, took more enormous write-offs, and raised even more capital. When Lehman failed, Thain played his weak cards wisely: Instead of wasting another precious day explaining to investors why the market was wrong and the firm's balance sheet was strong, Thain acted. And this time, he fixed Merrill's problem once and for all.

Over at Lehman, CEO Dick Fuld was dealing with the same problems but could not implent the same solution that easily. It could be bcause of reluctance to own up to his own mistakes because he was responsible for the strategies that brought Lehman to the crisis strategy. Are Fuld must have failed to recognize how rapidly the markets were deteriorating. Regardless, toward the end, when Fuld finally realized how far up a creek he and Lehman were, it was too late.

2008 Financial and Economic Crisis - CEOs Affected

John Thain

Joined Merrill Lynch as CEO after the major crisis. Merged the company with Bank of America.

But agreed to leave Merrill after Merrill had a unexpectedly large $15.4 billion fourther quarter loss.