Freaky Friday
June 5, 2009
Japanese For “Accountability.” Comparing bulge bracket’s use of pay during boom and bust years often feels like an exercise in cognitive dissonance. One wonders why, with all of the focus on performance-based pay to motivate performance, so little regard is given to consequences for losses. Nomura Holdings, meanwhile, has a different plan. The Japanese investment bank chopped its top execs’ compensation to less than half of what they were paid during the glory days. Now that we’ve all seen what the wrong idea looks like, here’s what the right idea might look like, Nomura-style. See story.
Citi To Execs: Go Ahead, Call Our Bluff. Barring the above noted Japanese method, a uniquely American approach is to just settle controversial compensation agreements through Western-style shootouts. After seeing the foaming-at the-mouth media circus that emerged when AIG made good on its bonus agreements, you would expect Citi to win accolades for its gusty move of keeping its hand on the cookie jar, forcing its former executives to sue to get their severance. And yet. We expect this bonus brawl will prove to be a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t affair. See story.
The Greek Who Swears in Yiddish. Pete Peterson figures that he still hasn’t ruffled enough feathers. Following his cleverly-timed IPO of The Blackstone Group (to the devastation of more than a few public shareholders) and his foundation’s sponsorship of last year’s documentary, IOUSA, which targeted much up the Washington establishment.
Peterson’s latest stunt appears in his soon-to-be released autobiography, when he tosses out the claim that Wall Street bonuses have created too many “spoiled and ungrateful schmucks.” The immodestly titled book, “The Education of an American Dreamer: How a Son of Greek Immigrants Learned His Way from a Nebraska Diner to Washington, Wall Street, and Beyond” is certain to make him a persona non grata in even more circles than he already is. See story.
Barclays Mutes Its Bravado. Perhaps last week was a touch early for the British bank to announce its heady plans of hiring 750 new employees over this coming year. The bank’s shares were sent plunging after The International Petroleum Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund of the Abu Dhabi government, sold its 11 percent stake in Barclays, earning $2.5 billion. Most analysts don’t really believe the sale will affect the bank’s planned expansion, or that of its affiliated investment bank, but regardless the divestiture is a helpful reminder to banks that wealth investment aren’t forever, and the eventual asset sale doesn’t always come at the most convenient time. See story.
Howdy, Greenhill! Greenhill & Company has made it abundantly clear that the New York investment bank is in growth mode. And where better to get bigger than in Texas, the land of largess. The firm hired Christopher Mize and Aaron R. Hoover from Merrill Lynch to set up a Houston office to focus on energy investments. We’re wondering which culture clash we’ll enjoy watching more: Mize and Hoover’s move from the bulge to boutique model, or the inevitable New York/ Texas hijinx. See story.
Lifting The Tengzhong Veil. What real motivations are behind the Hummer–Tengzhong deal? Deal Journal reminds us that in Chinese business, there is often more to the backstory than meets the eye. Remember when the gas-guzzling auto was a military vehicle? So does China's President, Hu Jintao. And a return to Hummer’s martial beginnings may not be so far off. For more on the bidder’s founder, Yan Li, see story.
Yet More Bankers On The Lam. It feels like deju vu all over again. Julian Tzolov, an ex-Suisse banker, has apparently followed in the swift footsteps of Sam Israel and Marcus Schrenker. The former emigrant from Bulgaria faced charges in the U.S. of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud, and he was set to go on trial this month. But before he does, we’ll all have a chance to watch a rollicking manhunt unfold. See story.
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