International Business News Blogs - Finance Brief http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/rss/sections/finance-brief.rss All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 120 30 http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/rss/sections/finance-brief.rss http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif The chief executive of reinsurer Renaissance Re Holdings Ltd. said Friday that growing demand for its products and services and a need for efficiency prompted the acquisition of the firm managing its syndicate in the Lloyd’s market. Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) said it has entered into an agreement to buy Spectrum Partners Ltd, the parent company of Spectrum Syndicate Mana... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090605/renaissancere-chief-says-efficiency-growing-demand-prompted-managing-firm-buy.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/5600/20090605/renaissancere-chief-says-efficiency-growing-demand-prompted-managing-firm-buy.htm Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:59:52 EDT Sheila Bair on Cramer today. Instead of pandering her flawed policies in front of a small (if any) cable audience, with such pearls as "insured depositors have nothing to worry about", maybe Ms. Bair can finally get back to Zero Hedge in its FOIA request attempting to obtain some/any information on just what is thecompensation/fee structure for FDIC's advisor, and the real man behind the curtai... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090527/cramer-baired.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/5194/20090527/cramer-baired.htm Wed, 27 May 2009 20:46:17 EDT A man looks at a new exhibit tracking the financial crisis at the Museum of American Finance in New York March 25, 2009. (Reuters)The Museum of American Finance opened an exhibit on the global economic crisis history on Wednesday. "Tracking the Credit Crisis" looks at the events that led into and happened during the crisis as well as providing attendees with definitions of all those eco... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090325/museum-of-american-finance-in-ny-tracking-the-credit-crisis.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2637/20090325/museum-of-american-finance-in-ny-tracking-the-credit-crisis.htm Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:19:54 EDT AIG Tower in Hong Kong (Bobby Yip/Reuters photo)Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president at American International Group Inc has issued his resignation letter, published on the New York Times web site on Wednesday.DeSantis feels let down by the company and its chief executive for not supporting employees who agreed to receive bonuses, in the form of retention pay, for staying on with the company... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090325/goodbye-aig.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2584/20090325/goodbye-aig.htm Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:50:30 EDT The hedge fund industry still generated big profits in 2008 for top earners despite a 48 percent dropoff, according to a new survey by Alpha Magazine. The top 25 hedge fund managers saw their average take home pay drop 48 percent to $464 million last year. The average in 2007 was $892 million. James Simons of Renaissance Technologies Corp was the top earner, followed by John Paul... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090325/top-25-hedge-fund-managers-see-take-home-pay-drop-48-pct-in-2008.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2569/20090325/top-25-hedge-fund-managers-see-take-home-pay-drop-48-pct-in-2008.htm Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:51:51 EDT Timothy Coleman of BlackstoneLeveraged deals will be back, although, not at the same levels as before, a senior executive at Blackstone said on Tuesday."The idea that it’s over and we’ll never see another levered deal is not good thinking. I don’t know when, but it will be back," Timothy Coleman, the co-head of Blackstone’s Restructuring and Reorganization Advisory unit told Reuters in an after... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090324/leveraged-deals-will-be-back-blackstone.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2566/20090324/leveraged-deals-will-be-back-blackstone.htm Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:30:17 EDT Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will tell lawmakers today that providing billions of dollars in emergency loans to insurer AIG was a “difficult but necessary” step to support the U.S. economy and stabilize the financial system. “We were very concerned about a number of other major firms that were intense stress,” Bernanke stated in prepared remarks for a hearing in Washington today... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090324/aig-bailout-averted-1930s-type-meltdown-bernanke.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2511/20090324/aig-bailout-averted-1930s-type-meltdown-bernanke.htm Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:06:18 EDT Goldman Sachs is planning, "ideally within the next month," to give back a loan from the government's bailout fund which it accepted last year, people involved in the process tell Andrew Sorkin of the New York Time's Dealbook blog.Some banks, namely Citibank and Bank of America, have already said they are making an operating profit for the first two months of the year."To some, these pronounc... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090324/goldman-to-give-back-bailout-loan-soon-report.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2504/20090324/goldman-to-give-back-bailout-loan-soon-report.htm Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:58:56 EDT Nine of the top 10 AIG bonus recipients have agreed to return the payments in full, New York’s top legal officer said on Monday. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, in a conference call with reporters, said that $30 million of $165 million in bonuses paid on March 15 has been returned, according to reports. Out the top 20 recipients, 15 have returned the bonuses, he said. He... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090323/top-aig-bonus-recipients-give-it-back.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2489/20090323/top-aig-bonus-recipients-give-it-back.htm Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:10:57 EDT As the Federal Reserve and Treasury work closely to restore stability to the financial system in the midst of a prolonged recession, the pair of institutions issued a joint declaration of broad points that they agree on.The statement comes as both agencies work together to help mitigate the effects of the current economic recession which officially began in December of 2007.The following is a summ... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090323/fed-treasury-clarify-fedrole.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2486/20090323/fed-treasury-clarify-fedrole.htm Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:23:15 EDT A bubble could be growing in the credit markets, according to Mark Kary, the chief executive of hedge fund Polar Capital. “Some people are looking at credit to the exclusion of everything else,” Kary told Reuters at a hedge fund and private equity conference in London. “There is a pretty scary consensus around … a lot of people are chasing the same idea.” Kary was previ... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090323/credit-bubble-may-be-building-kary.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2480/20090323/credit-bubble-may-be-building-kary.htm Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:41:17 EDT Citigroup Inc defended its decision to go forward with a reported $10 million executive office construction project, saying it will realize savings of $20 million over the life of a lease for office space at its global headquarters in New York.Citigroup issued the statement after “numerous misleading media reports” about the project.A Bloomberg report today said the multi-million dollar project w... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090319/citigroup-defends-10-million-executive-office-construction-project.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2309/20090319/citigroup-defends-10-million-executive-office-construction-project.htm Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:27:36 EDT New York’s top legal officer has received a list of American International Group Inc’s bonus recipients. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said AIG has complied with a subpoena issued for the list. Addressing employee safety concerns raised by AIG chief executive Edward Liddy during a congressional hearing in Washington yesterday, Cuomo said his office would “be sensitive to t... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090319/new-york-receives-aig-bonus-recipients-list.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2300/20090319/new-york-receives-aig-bonus-recipients-list.htm Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:01:52 EDT Connecticut’s top legal officer has demanded that insurer American International Group Inc provide his office with a complete list of bonus recipients, amounts paid and their contracts as well as other documents relating to the matter. He said he would take steps to enforce a subpoena issued by the state Department of Consumer Protection if AIG doesn’t provide the information promptly. ... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090319/connecticut-subpoenas-aig-for-bonus-recipients-contracts.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2297/20090319/connecticut-subpoenas-aig-for-bonus-recipients-contracts.htm Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:49:53 EDT GE Capital will not need any outside funding and would break even under more stressful economic environment, the chief financial officer of General Electric said on Thursday. CFO Keith Sherin made the comments at a meeting in New York where he and other GE executives met with investors to discuss the GE unit’s finances, according to Bloomberg. GE Capital’s businesses include com... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090319/ge-says-finance-unit-could-turn-profit-or-break-even-in-2009.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2291/20090319/ge-says-finance-unit-could-turn-profit-or-break-even-in-2009.htm Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:23:07 EDT The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill which would impose a 90 percent tax on bonuses for executives whose incomes are greater than $250,000, Reuters reported.The bill was approved by a vote of 328-93. The tax would involved would apply to companies who have received more than $5 billion in government bailout money.The senate is also expected to consider a different measure to recover... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090319/house-moves-to-impose-90-pct-tax-on-aig-bonuses.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2281/20090319/house-moves-to-impose-90-pct-tax-on-aig-bonuses.htm Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:22:59 EDT The FBI arrested a former Bernard Madoff accountant on Wednesday on criminal charges in a fraud related to his convicted employer. The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed civil charges against David Friehling, 49. Madoff pleaded guilty last week of a fraud which drew as much as $65 billion over 20 years. He will be sentenced in June for up to 150 years in prison. &nbsp... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090318/fbi-arrests-madoff-accountant.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2236/20090318/fbi-arrests-madoff-accountant.htm Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:51:23 EDT AIG chief executive officer Gordon Liddy (Reuters photo)The chief executive of embattled insurer American International Group said on Wednesday that he has asked employees to return half of their bonuses in response to public outrage over $165 billion in retention pay given out over the weekend. “I’ve asked those that received retention payments in excess of $100,000 or more to return at... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090318/aig-chief-asks-employees-to-give-back-bonuses.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2226/20090318/aig-chief-asks-employees-to-give-back-bonuses.htm Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:58:14 EDT Shares of Bank of America Corp an Citigroup rose more than 20 percent on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve announced a new program to buy government debt. Citigroup shares soared 57 cents, or 22.71 percent to close at $3.08. Bank of America shares were up $1.40, or 22.33 percent to $7.67. Wells Fargo & Co. rose $2.56, or 17.46 percent to $17.22. The KBW Bank Index rose 3.02 points... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090318/bank-of-america-citigroup-shares-soar.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2221/20090318/bank-of-america-citigroup-shares-soar.htm Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:44:21 EDT (CNBC screenshot)Former General Electric chief executive Jack Welch says the U.S., which own 80 percent of insurer AIG, should act as the owner and stop "throwing rocks" to get back the $180 billion dollars in bailout money the company received. Current AIG chief executive Edward Liddy, who formerly ran insurer Allstate Insurance Co. is now running the company after he was appointed fol... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090318/uowns-aig-and-should-act-like-it-welch.htm http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/2185/20090318/uowns-aig-and-should-act-like-it-welch.htm Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:27:18 EDT