The mortgage settlement between the top five mortgage banks and state attorneys general may indeed be a net positive in the short term, as it offers more certainty about the myriad state inquiries and offers additional hope that more individual foreclosure cases can be resolved.
But there’s a reason why New York and California signed the accord: It does nothing to hold back their efforts to pursue banks for a wide range of mortgage-related claims.
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Virginia-based startup timeRAZOR has added $3.4 million in funding. The company has been in stealth mode since June 2011. The online startup’s mission is to bring “a sense of serendipity back to our highly-scheduled world.” The company’s board of advisors includes Linda Abraham, co-founder of comScore; Eddie Amos, former Microsoft executive; and Gene Riechers, former General Partner of Valhalla Partners.
Read more »TastemakerX has raised $1.8 million in funding. Investors include Guggenheim Partners, Baseline Ventures, True Ventures, AOL Ventures and Tekton Ventures. The company has also attracted Internet and music industry advisors John Battelle, Marc Geiger, Ian Rogers, Paul Bricault and Ted Rheingold and angel investors Andrew Anker, Mich Mathews, Michael Kassan and Mike McGinley. TastemakerX is a social gaming platform.
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Read more »When the New York attorney general sued three big consumer banks and MERS last week, it seemed like a thumb up the nose of the majority of other states who were on the verge of signing a deal to settle a host of mortgage crimes, such as robo-signing.
Read more »Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman made news in February when he revealed that a critical goal for the bank was to boost bank's market share in fixed-income trading to roughly 8 percent, compared with the JP Morgan's market leading 15 percent share.
Read more »Morgan Stanley appears to have pulled off quite a coup.
Coming from way behind, it is on the verge of being named the lead underwriter for the Facebook IPO, if the WSJ is to be believed. Most people assumed that Goldman Sachs was in the driver’s seat but in the end, the botched effort to raise $1.5 billion from domestic clients of Goldman Sachs may have been a decisive factor. Or perhaps they just weren’t willing to compete on price. We may never know.
Read more »One legacy of the dotcom bust was the so-called global settlement that sought to reform sell-side stock research practices on Wall Street.
The deal called for a large fine and steps to erect something close to China walls between the research staff and the banking staff. At the time, it was hailed as a landmark settlement. That global settlement expired in 2009, and you’ve got to wonder if there’s been any slippage since then in the efforts of sell-side firms to maintain a wall between the two functions.
Read more »So how should private equity fees imposed on limited partners be calculated?
According to a new study prepared for the Financial Times by academics at Yale and Maastricht University, from 2001 to 2010, U.S. pension plans on average generated a 4.5 percent return annually, after fees.
“In that period, the pension funds paid an average 4 percent of invested capital each year in management fees. On top of those, private equity often collects a variety of other fees and a fifth of investment profits.”
Read more »One private equity industry executive tells Deal Book that, “I think it’s a pretty honorable industry, and I don’t know why people aren’t stepping up and defending the careers that define their lives. That’s a sad thing. What do they fear it will cost them?”
The race for the Republican presidential nomination has thrust the career of Mitt Romney, one of the co-founders of Bain Capital, into the spotlight. It's one that has proven harsh, as fellow Republicans have gone after him with a vengeance.
Read more »When will John Paulson return to his high-water mark in his top two funds? That’s a fair question in the wake of a disastrous year for the head fund honcho, who seemed unable to lose until this year.
His top two funds, his Advantage fund and the leveraged version, the Advantage Plus fund, were down roughly 36 percent and 51 percent in 2011. Several of his other funds were down as well. So how long until his funds get back to their high water mark, which would once again allow Paulson to take performance fees? It’s mostly likely going to be a long slog.
Read more »Is it all that shocking that the owners of BankUnited--which include the likes of Carlyle Group, Wilbur Ross and Blackstone Group--are seeking an early out?
Read more »Citigroup missed earnings projections for the fourth quarter, reporting profits of $1.16 billion, or $0.38 cents a share, compared with the average analyst recommendation of 50 cents a share. That’s cause for worry of course, but we shouldn’t let that obscure the big macro trend, which amounts to a troubling fall in revenue that may not improve anytime soon.
Read more »JPMorgan Chase kicked off the earnings period by reporting net income of $3.7 billion for the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with $4.8 billion for the fourth quarter of 2010.
Earnings per share were $0.90, compared with $1.12 a year ago. That essentially matched expectations. But as expected to a degree, the company also reported a debit valuation adjustment that resulted in a $567 million pre-tax loss, an accounting charge that the company does not consider indicative of operational results. So one could make the case that the bank actually beat earnings expectations.
Read more »Reston, Va.-based AppTap, developer of an app recommendations service, has raised $4 million in a round led by Syncom Venture Partners. Return backer New Atlantic Ventures also participated in the round. The money will go toward development and toward expanding its partnerships and its app advertising capabilities for developers.
Read more »JPMorgan Chase gets the bank reporting period underway this week, as it is scheduled to release its fourth quarter results on Friday.
Read more »The April 9 insider trial of former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta might prove a seismic event, outdrawing even the Raj Rajaratnam trial, which ended in a spectacular victory for prosecutors.
Read more »So what will the New Year bring for investment banks?
Obviously, they've been in downsizing mode. Banks slashed jobs as macro concerns squashed the early year bump in core advisory and deal business. Amid this loss of demand, new regulations will likely have an outsized effect.
Read more »CytoPherx Inc., a developer of anti-inflammatory therapy for acute kidney injury, has raised $34 million in funding from Early Stage Partners, ONSET Ventures and Capital Midwest Fund. The money will be used to complete clinical trials and commercialize its therapy product. CytoPherx was founded in July 2007 and is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Read more »Eved, a Chicago-based company developing an online marketplace for the meeting and event industry, has raised $9.5 million in Series B financing. New World Ventures and MK Capital led the round, which will be used to expand its online platform. Existing shareholder Merrick Ventures also participated in the round.
Read more »Ossianix has secured backing from international pharmaceutical company H. Lundbeck A/S in the form of a Convertible Promissory Note. The proceeds from Lundbeck’s investment should allow Ossianix to generate biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of nervous system disorders.
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