No Freebies for Some Goldman Traders in London

Goldman Sachs’ head of equity derivatives is raining on his traders’ parade just as the busy summer sports season, including this year’s World Cup, are starting to ramp up. Group head Peter Selman didn’t leave a lot of room for misinterpretation when he banned traders from accepting gifts or entertainment from brokers at other firms. The policy is more severe that the one in place firm-wide and elsewhere on the street. Something tells us these guys will still be able to addord their own tickets.
Goldman Sachs Traders Face Gift Ban [Financial News Online]

Merrill and JP Turn in Similar Results. Sort Of.

36 is the magic number this quarter. Yesterday, JPMorgan announced that its earnings rose 36 percent in Q1 while Merrill Lynch announced that its profit would have been up 36 percent had it not been for a pesky one-time accounting charge that resulted in reported earnings falling 61 percent. Merrill did manage to add another 190 brokers, bringing that total to 15,350, and to attract another $16.9 billion in assets under management. Meanwhile over at JPMorgan, investment banking fees jumped 19% and equity trading remained strong.
JP Morgan’s Profit Rises 36% [Wall Street Journal]
Merrill Net Sinks Due to Charge [Wall Street Journal]

Seattle Sleuth Sinks Suspicious Stocks

It’s not often you hear about someone actually wanting to work for the SEC but Yolanda Holtzee, the sweatpants-wearing, bagel-eating star of an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, is among the few: “I wish I were a securities regulator sometimes,” she wrote recently in an email. “I would very much enjoy levying fines on StanLEH Morgan and making Gary Lynch cry like a baby!” In addition to trolling the internet in the middle of the night seeking out signs of corporate malfeasance, Ms. Holtzee also collects dolls and, oh yeah, manages money, with an emphasis on the beverage, metals and financial services sectors. “If I could have hired her, we would have had an endless stream of cases,” says a former senior official at the SEC.
Gadfly in Sweatpants [Wall Street Journal]

More Legal Woes for San Fran Fund Manager

The Post paints a picture today of San Francisco-based hedge fund manager Lawrence Goldfarb and it ain’t pretty. According to a recent lawsuit by vc shop BayStar Capital, Goldfarb, along with others, conspired to run one of BayStar’s investments, Clickradio, into the ground so that he could pick up its assets on the cheap. The accusation comes on top of some bad press Goldfarb got back in 2001 for stiffing (no pun intended) a stripper for $25,000. Goldfarb, who’s currently trying to revive rap label Murder Inc., has also managed to piss off other high profile businessmen like Quicy Jones and the Marciano brothers.
Larry’s List of Legal Hits [NY Post]

John Thain In White Satin

NYSE CEO John Thain has been getting friendly with London Stock Exchange head Clara Furse in an effort to head off advances from rival NASDAQ. After reports leaked out this weekend, the NYSE admitted that Thain had phone his counterpart in London to discuss the topic of mergers and acquisitions but would be no more specific than that.  “We are currently engaged in discussions with certain participants, although no definitive terms have been discussed or agreements reached,” the exchange said. “We intend to continue to engage in strategic discussions.” Like many of the companies on its electronic exchange, NASDAQ has been aggressively courting growth opportunities and its interest in the LSE is no secret.
NYSE Chief in Secret Overture [London Times]

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