Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:21:05 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Julie Satow :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Julie+Satow istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/talent-flight-feared-by-city-firms/86785/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST With New York's top investment banks either converting into commercial banks or bankrupt, the city is poised to lose revenue and talent, industry analysts said. The prediction is that many of the highest-paid traders, analysts, and portfolio managers, frustrated with lower earnings potential at commercial banks — the banks are permitted to use only about one-third the leverage of investment banks and so often post lower returns — will leave to start their own hedge funds and investment... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/derivatives-pose-new-wrinkle-in-lehman-case/86595/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Bankruptcy lawyers and law professors are preparing for a journey into uncharted territory as the credit default swaps market gets dragged into the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy proceeding. "The courts have dealt with credit default swaps very infrequently, and certainly not at the scale they are now out there," a lawyer at Washington, D.C.-based Caplin & Drysdale, James Wehner, said. "We have a new law and a new financial phenomenon, so there is a lot of uncertainty." In recent weeks, regulators... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/after-the-congressional-failure/86847/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The Next Stop: The Federal Reserve With Congress unable to pass the $700 billion bailout, it is likely that the next stop in the race to quell the market chaos will be the Federal Reserve. Expectations are rising that the Federal Open Market Committee could cut its benchmark lending rate at its October 29 meeting, while some are predicting it could institute an emergency rate-cut as soon as next week. Interest rate futures listed on the Chicago Board of Trade are pricing in a 50% chance that... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/default-swaps-may-be-next-in-credit-crisis/86312/ Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The biggest Wall Street story most Americans haven't yet heard of is the $62 trillion unregulated credit default swaps market. Here is one scenario: A hedge fund buys insurance in case a company defaults on its bonds — a so-called credit default swap — when the hedge fund doesn't necessarily own the bonds. Then it immediately shorts the stock, driving down the company's share price, leading to a downgrade, and eventually triggering a default. It is the ultimate moral hazard, like taking out... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/mccain-calls-for-coxs-ouster/86226/ Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST As the federal government works to create a new entity that would take financial services companies' bad assets off their balance sheets — talk of which helped drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average up to its biggest percentage gain in nearly six years yesterday — the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Christopher Cox, is enduring a stunning reversal of fortune. Once the darling of the Republican Party, even touted as a possible vice presidential candidate, the 55-year-old... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/ex-sec-official-blames-agency-for-blow-up/86130/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The Securities and Exchange Commission can blame itself for the current crisis. That is the allegation being made by a former SEC official, Lee Pickard, who says a rule change in 2004 led to the failure of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch. The SEC allowed five firms — the three that have collapsed plus Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — to more than double the leverage they were allowed to keep on their balance sheets and remove discounts that had been applied to the assets they... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/barclays-aquires-lehman-assets/85955/ Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:58:39 EST Employees at Lehman are reporting that Robert "Bob" Diamond of the British bank Barclays stood on the trading floor of Lehman Brothers a few minutes ago, and is now going from floor to floor announcing a $2 billion acquisition of several of Lehman's profitable assets, including its broker-dealer. The sounds of God Save the Queen played over the loudspeakers following the announcement, according to bankers who were there. "Someone just opened a bottle of champagne," one banker said, adding that... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/sec-races-against-short-sellers/85932/ Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST In an attempt to stanch the bloodletting on Wall Street, the Securities and Exchange Commission will rush to institute new rules as soon as this week to curb abusive short selling of stocks. The rules — which are far less sweeping than restrictions the agency temporarily instituted in July on shorting shares of 19 financial firms — will make it fraudulent for traders to mislead brokers about whether they have located a stock they intend to short, and will no longer allow options traders to bet... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/its-a-new-landscape-on-wall-street/85852/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:37:46 EST Wall Street woke up to a new landscape today, with Lehman Brothers filing for one of the largest bankruptcies in American history and Bank of America announcing a $50 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The news sent the stock tumbling 300 points, erasing more than $300 billion in market value, while the relative safety of Treasury bonds is soaring. The $29-a-share, all-stock purchase of Merrill is a 70% premium over Merrill's share price of $17.05 at the market's close Friday, although it is... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/its-a-new-landscape-on-wall-street/85826/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Wall Street will wake up to a new landscape today, as Lehman Brothers teeters on the edge of bankruptcy and Bank of America works to complete an acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Analysts and market watchers are touting the Bank of America deal — which emerged late yesterday after its talks to acquire Lehman Brothers fell apart — as providing some closure to the crisis that seemed to come to a crescendo over the weekend. "If there is a last-minute bidder for Lehman Brothers and the Merrill deal... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/a-surprising-haven-emerges-for-investors/85759/ Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Even as a possible sale of venerable investment bank Lehman Brothers was being coordinated last night, foreshadowing another blow to Wall Street, global investors fleeing the turmoil were flocking to a surprising safe haven: the American dollar. After lingering in the doldrums for years, the greenback reached a one-year high of $1.40 against the euro yesterday, a surge of 12% in the past two months. Dollar experts said this move portends a monumental shift in the currency to a period of... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/bush-tax-cuts-increased-tax-base-study-says/84823/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Taxpayers responded to President Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 by generating greater taxable income, according to a new paper to be published this fall in the National Tax Journal. In fact, taxpayers reported so much more income than was anticipated, it likely offset as much as 40% of the revenue that was lost by lowering the top two tax brackets, the paper, authored by a vice president for economic policy at the Tax Foundation, Robert Carroll, and economists Gerald Auten and Geoffrey Gee of... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/cuomo-may-sue-merrill-lynch/84370/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:36:47 EST New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will file suit against Merrill Lynch & Co. tomorrow morning if it doesn't reach an agreement by the end of today with the investment bank regarding its marketing of auction rate securities, its office said. "Enough is enough," Mr. Cuomo told the AP in an interview. "Delay doesn't work as a tactic. I want them to come in quickly and resolve this expeditiously." Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth issued a press release saying it had... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/increase-is-seen-in-wealth-of-autocracies/84175/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST There is a new class of financial superpowers, and America is not one of them. According to new research by a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Brad Setser, autocracies such as China and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, plus the governments of Russia and Venezuela, own nearly 80% of the world's $1.71 trillion increase in foreign assets held by governments over the last year. Autocracies' assets grew by 60% in the last year to $1.35 trillion, as of the second quarter, while... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/big-funds-eye-reinvesting-in-tobacco-firms/83867/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST In a potentially devastating blow to the movement toward "socially responsible" investing, California's public pension fund system is considering reversing its policy of refusing to invest in tobacco companies. The California State Teachers' Retirement System, the nation's third-largest public pension fund with $162 billion in assets, could vote as early as this fall on a plan to start buying tobacco stocks, which it has shunned since 2000. The $248 billion California Public Employees'... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/new-york/ny-fares-well-vs-london-in-a-new-study/83495/ Fri, 8 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST A new report has found that Londoners are six times more likely to be robbed or assaulted than New Yorkers, that their cost of living is nearly 40% higher, and that their largest university, the University of London, has just 125,000 students, compared with the City University of New York's 450,000 students. The 116-page study, a collaboration of New York University's Schack Institute of Real Estate, the Urban Land Institute, and London South Bank University, is a follow-up to a seven-volume... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/senators-score-irs-for-failing-to-pursue-offshore/82639/ Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST The Senate Finance Committee is pressing the Internal Revenue Service to escalate its policing of offshore accounts for instances of tax evasion. During a hearing yesterday, senators Kerry and Conrad, in particular, criticized the IRS for not doing more to investigate such funds. "I don't think you're taking this seriously," Mr. Conrad said to the director of the IRS's Large and Mid-Size Business Division, Frank Ng. "I've not had you come one time to me and ask for additional tools to go after... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/senate-panel-will-probe-a-tax-haven/82535/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST A report to be published this morning by the Government Accountability Office will disclose that the number of companies that list their address in a five-story building in the Cayman Islands nearly doubled to more than 18,500 during the past four years, according to a source who has seen the report. Roughly half of the companies with addresses at the Ugland House, located in George Town, the capital of the British crown colony, are American. RELATED: Statements of Senators Baucus, Grassley... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/new-york/tax-rates-for-new-yorkers-would-top-50-under-obama/82191/ Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST New York tax filers reporting more than $375,000 a year in earned income may end up paying nearly 60% of their wages in taxes to the government under a Barack Obama presidency, economists who have analyzed his plan said. The Democratic presidential candidate is proposing not only raising the federal income tax, but also adding a Social Security tax for those Americans earning more than $250,000 a year. For New Yorkers, that could mean that if the current Social Security rate is applied, the... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/obama-capital-gains-tax-hike-would-hit-new-york/81902/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST As Senator Obama's presidential platform starts to take shape, economists and tax officials here in New York and Washington are warning that his fiscal policies could have a devastating effect on what is, in effect, New York's biggest crop — capital gains. Mr. Obama is proposing to raise taxes on capital gains and dividends by a staggering two-thirds, moving the rate up 10 percentage points to 25%, which could curtail investment and business on Wall Street, a backbone of the city's and state's... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/will-bernanke-doom-the-sec/81689/ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST As the Federal Reserve chairman pushes ahead with his effort to expand the Fed's oversight of investment banks, traditionally the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission, some officials said the move would severely limit the securities agency's influence on Wall Street and could even lead to its dismantling. In testimony yesterday on Capitol Hill, Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated his call for Congress to write legislation that would give the Fed regulatory authority over... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/merrills-move-puts-mayor-on-the-spot/81415/ Tue, 8 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Mayor Bloomberg, who has had a long string of successes in dodging conflicts of interest with his multibillion-dollar business holdings, is suddenly being confronted with a case that may upend his luck. Merrill Lynch, the company that wants to unload its 20% stake in Bloomberg LP for as much as $6 billion, also figures in the development debate at ground zero, where the mayor is a major player. If Merrill gets an offer for its interest in the mayor's company, it must offer him a right of first... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/pace-quickens-in-russias-suit-against-the-bank/81225/ Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST MOSCOW — Russia's Federal Customs Service and the Bank of New York Mellon are ramping up the pace of their attacks in preparation for today's expected resumption of hearings in a $22.5 billion racketeering lawsuit. The bank's case could be weakened by the disclosure that one of its star witnesses, Richard Thornburgh, a former Pennsylvania governor and U.S. attorney general, is mentioned in a document published by his law firm that says the bank took responsibility "for crimes involving fraud... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/delay-of-moscow-hearings-may-be-bad-sign-for-bank/80977/ Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST MOSCOW — Bad news was on the docket for the Bank of New York Mellon in Moscow early yesterday, as hearings in a racketeering case against the bank were postponed until Thursday, a move that may impede the ability of the bank to put on the stand a number of witnesses who flew to Moscow to help in its defense. RELATED: Alan Dershowitz's Testimony (pdf) | Richard Thornburgh's Testimony (pdf) | The New York Sun's Special Coverage. Among the legal luminaries who sat in the crowded, stuffy courtroom... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/dershowitz-argues-for-foreign-use-of-rico/81005/ Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST In testimony that was to be submitted to a Moscow court yesterday, a Harvard Law School professor, Alan Dershowitz, states: "In sum, a RICO civil lawsuit brought by a foreign nation in a foreign tribunal premised on the type of gross misconduct alleged here, and in particular, this vast money laundering scheme, is consistent with and advances Congress's goals in enacting a broad civil remedy and in ensuring its application in the global arena." The testimony was withdrawn by the plaintiffs... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/legal-nightmare-feared-in-russia/80947/ Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST The final stages of a $22.5 billion battle pitting the Bank of New York Mellon against the Russian Federation will begin today in a Russian court. The decision in the money laundering suit, which may be handed down as early as this week, could set a precedent for the global application of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, on which the suit is based. The case is troubling some lawyers, who say the Russians are applying the RICO statute piecemeal, and should they win it... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/bank-of-new-york-fails-to-set-aside-funds-for-loss/80938/ Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST A financial expert who was hired by the Russians to look into the financial standing of the Bank of New York Mellon, Kenneth Thomas, has launched a letter-writing and telephone campaign to warn regulators that the bank made a mistake is deciding against setting up a special contingency reserve for potential damages related to the case. "Assuming a $22.5 billion judgment, which could reportedly happen as early as June 30, 2008, and assuming just a portion of it is enforced in the more than 90... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/us-sees-crime-in-the-credit-crisis/80408/ Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Marking what some say is the start of the criminalization of the credit crisis, federal prosecutors indicted two Bear Stearns hedge fund managers yesterday and announced that more than 400 real estate lawyers, appraisers, and brokers have been arrested in recent months. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York indicted the founder of two Bear Stearns hedge funds that collapsed last year, Ralph Cioffi, and a portfolio manager at the funds, Matthew Tannin, on charges of... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/market-opinions-grim-as-dow-dips-below-12000/80256/ Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST With the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping below 12,000 yesterday and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index plummeting 9% so far this year, market opinions on the health of the market are growing dour. Two studies of business executives released yesterday confirmed this attitude: Of more than 1,000 CFOs surveyed by Duke University and CFO Magazine, more than half do not expect the economy to rebound until mid-2009 at the earliest, and 40% said the economy in 2008 is in a recession. Another market... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/real-estate/real-estate-the-week-in-review/79327/ Thu, 5 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST 1. Rent-Stabilized Building to Be a Mansion The owners of a 15-unit rent-stabilized apartment building can remove tenants and convert it into a single-family home for their personal use, the state Court of Appeals ruled, overturning a decision by the state Supreme Court. Catherine and Alistair Economakis, represented by the law firm Rosenberg & Estis, can transform the five-story apartment building at 47 E. 3rd St. into a home as long as they occupy it themselves, the court said this week. 2... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/battle-of-titans-brewing-over-new-york-mellon/79183/ Tue, 3 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST A clash of the titans is shaping up in Moscow, as the Bank of New York Mellon later this month will battle it out with the Russian Federation over a $22.5 billion money laundering case. Each side is bringing in heavy firepower. Representing the Bank of New York Mellon, one of America's oldest financial institutions, is a former U.S. attorney general and governor of Pennsylvania, Richard Thornburgh. He is joined by the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner, perhaps best known for representing Vice... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/inflation-fears-could-be-extinguished-this-week/79050/ Mon, 2 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Market watchers will be eyeing this week's economic calendar with keen interest, as a slew of critical indicators may finally clarify the state of the American economy. Chief among them will be Wednesday's report on productivity and Friday's employment numbers. These figures could help alleviate concerns about inflation, which has surpassed slow growth as economists' most pressing worry. Inflation fears surged last week as oil reached an all-time high of $135 a barrel, the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/real-estate/week-in-review/78841/ Thu, 29 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Manhattan Has World's 13th Most Expensive Office Space According to CB Richard Ellis Group's ranking of worldwide office space, Dubai has replaced Manhattan as the 12th most expensive office space in the world, bumping New York down one place to no. 13, according to the Real Deal. Manhattan is North America's most expensive office space market at $103.43 a square foot. London's West End maintained its no. 1 spot at $299.54 a square foot, followed by Moscow. Designer Betsey Johnson Buys on Upper... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/mystery-of-iphone-shortage-may-be-solved/78764/ Wed, 28 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Consumers panicking because New York's Apple stores have sold out of iPhones may have reason for hope: A company that investigates U.S. Customs data has discovered that millions of the newest generation of iPhones may be making their way to America. Since mid-March, Apple Inc. has imported nearly 200 ocean containers full of what are termed "electronic computers," which experts said is a likely reference to the anticipated 3G iPhone. According to ImportGenius.com, which uncovered the mystery... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/layoffs-feared-as-lehman-brothers-cuts-back/76649/ Tue, 20 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Employees at Lehman Brothers trudged into work yesterday terrified they would be next to join the thousands of bankers in recent months who, after receiving a dreaded call from their human resources department, never returned to their desks. "Two people were let go in our group this morning, and from what I can tell, it isn't close to being over," one Lehman Brothers employee based in New York, who did not have authority to speak on the record, said. "There are no grand goodbyes, it's more like... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/health-fitness/week-in-review/76631/ Mon, 19 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Mice: It's Better To Go Hungry Than To Go Running A study in the May issue of the American Journal of Physiology found that hormonal changes in the body are the reason rodents that eat less live longer than those that exercise regularly. The study found that a diet of fewer calories leads to physiological changes that benefit the body, including the fact that how much mice ate determined their insulin level — high levels are associated with diabetes — while exercise did not have much effect... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/clinton-attacks-wall-street/75851/ Tue, 6 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Outrage is mounting on Wall Street as Senator Clinton ratchets up her antibusiness rhetoric in a bid to woo working class voters, whose support could determine whether she is a viable presidential candidate after today's votes. Heading into the crucial Indiana and North Carolina primaries, the New York senator is neck and neck with Senator Obama. With 187 Democratic delegates at stake, the opponents are pulling out all the stops. Yesterday, Mrs. Clinton's normally responsive camp took a full 24... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/credit-card-issuers-may-be-handcuffed-on-fees/75720/ Fri, 2 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Pressure is mounting on credit card issuers, with the Federal Reserve scheduled to hold a public meeting today to approve new rules that would curb the industry's abilities to impose fees on cardholders. The proposed regulations, which among other things would prohibit banks from increasing the annual percentage rate on a customer's outstanding balance and forbid them from charging a late fee, come as a number of bills that also aim to rein in card issuers are wending their way through Congress... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/credit-cards-offer-less-credit-in-black/75366/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Credit card companies offer residents of majority black communities a lower credit limit than residents with the same profile who live in white neighborhoods, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has found. For his report, "Credit Card Redlining," Ethan Cohen-Cole studied the credit reports of 285,780 individuals, finding that a 1% increase in the percentage of blacks in an area corresponds to a reduction in available credit of $123. Moreover, moving from an 80%-majority white... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/real-estate/this-week-in-review-2008-04-24/75262/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST 1. Madonna Expands In Manhattan After suing an Upper West Side co-op board for rejecting her bid to buy an apartment, Madonna has finally closed on a seventh-floor unit at 1 W. 64th St. The 49-year-old singer, who already owns an apartment in the building, paid $7 million for the second unit, according to the Real Deal. She bought her first apartment at the building, which faces Central Park West, after being rejected in 1985 by the co-op board of the San Remo, an exclusive co-op also... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/report-free-markets-popularity-is-sagging/75104/ Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Support is eroding for free market systems across the globe, according to a new report. In 10 of 18 countries polled by the nonpartisan Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland and the public opinion research firm GlobeScan, fewer citizens view a free market economy as the best model compared with two years ago. The most dramatic change was in Turkey, where 34% support a free market, a drop of 13 percentage points from 2005, and South Korea, which saw support... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/investors-brace-for-busy-week-on-wall-street/75021/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Investors are bracing for what could be a bellwether week for the stock market, with nearly a third of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average reporting quarterly earnings. With so many companies posting results — about half of the S&P 500 index will also release numbers in the next two weeks — investors who have been jostled by the bulls and the bears in recent months may finally be able to determine whether the equity markets can withstand a slowing economy. The markets ended... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/volckers-stance-may-offer-view-of-obamas/74493/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST The entry of the hero of the anti-inflation wars of the 1980s into the public debate over recent moves by the Federal Reserve may provide an opening into the monetary policy that would be followed during an Obama presidency. Paul Volcker, a former Fed chairman who endorsed Senator Obama earlier this year, this week gave a resounding critique of the Fed, deriding its decisions to bail out Bear Stearns and to allow the dollar's steep depreciation. His decision to enter the fray couldn't come at a... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/bank-of-new-york-says-russia-case-totally-without/74333/ Tue, 8 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST The Bank of New York Mellon is seeking to calm jittery shareholders and analysts by assuring them that any claims stemming from ongoing litigation in a Moscow court would have no material impact because the judgments could not be enforced. The case is "totally without merit and invalid," an executive vice president and chief litigation counsel, Matthew Biben, said during a conference call yesterday. The bank's chief executive, Robert Kelly, and outside counsel, Jonathan Schiller, founding... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/arab-fund-may-snatch-gm-building/74219/ Fri, 4 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST A Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund is hovering over the leading bid for the General Motors Building, waiting for a chance to snatch up the iconic tower. Deutsche Bank and Harry Macklowe are plugging away at a deal to sell the building at 767 Fifth Ave. for about $2.8 billion — far less than the $3.5 billion originally sought — to a consortium of buyers reportedly led by billionaire press and real estate mogul Mort Zuckerman. The deal is a so-called all-cash offer because it is not... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/investors-scramble-on-bank-of-new-york/74131/ Thu, 3 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST Investors are scrambling to reassess the outlook for the Bank of New York Mellon following yesterday's report in The New York Sun that the Russian government is suing the bank in a Moscow court for $22.5 billion. There is also a growing concern among analysts over the value of the bank's assets. Its stock fell the most of any company in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index yesterday, plummeting 4.9% to $41.97. At issue is a money-laundering scheme from the 1990s, when two Russian émigrés moved $7.5... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/russians-suing-bank-of-new-york/74007/ Wed, 2 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST New York's oldest bank could be on the hook for $22.5 billion if the Russian government gets its way. Russia is suing the Bank of New York Mellon under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act for money laundering in Moscow in the 1990s. The case, while potentially a financial disaster for the bank, is also a means for Russia to prosecute a bank that is widely viewed there as a symbol of the chaos and corruption that pervaded the country under President Yeltsin. The case, one of... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/washington-wakes-to-woe-of-wall-street/73729/ Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST The near collapse of Bear Stearns has shaken awake Washington to the realities of a struggling Wall Street. In a flurry of action yesterday, the Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, called for federal oversight of investment banks; the top two members of the Senate Finance Committee declared an investigation into JPMorgan Chase's acquisition of Bear Stearns, and Rep. Vito Fossella of New York said he was preparing to unveil regulatory reform legislation. All this comes as the chairman of the... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/low-us-interest-rates-mean-dollar-is-used/73644/ Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST What does Iceland's decision to raise its key interest rate to 15% yesterday have to do with the strength of the greenback? Plenty, according to currency experts. As other countries strengthen their currencies, the Federal Reserve has been loosening its monetary policy, creating a yawning gap between the yields on the dollar versus other currencies. Investors are taking advantage of this differential, selling dollars and buying higher-yielding currencies, a strategy known as a "carry trade." In... JULIE SATOW http://www.nysun.com/business/congress-eyes-collapse-of-bear-stearns/73364/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST Capitol Hill is finally taking notice of the Federal Reserve and its unprecedented programs to pour liquidity into the market. As banks borrowed a staggering $19 billion a day from the Fed this week — an increase of more than 1,800% over last week — and adjusted to the fact that the Fed had helped shield Bear Stearns from insolvency, members of Congress are beginning to question the impact of these decisions. "I've instructed my staff to delve into the details of the deal," Senator Grassley...