More On Mozilo
I don’t know about you but it warms my heart to see Bank of America’s (BAC-NYSE) CEO Ken Lewis win Banker of the Year.
This philanthropic efforts this year included absorbing the Angelo Mozilo’s Countrywide Financial, although Kenny-boy might not have known about Angelo’s back alley shenanigans:
The wide-ranging criminal investigation into wrongdoing at Countrywide - once the nation’s largest mortgage originator - now includes serious scrutiny of a loan program that provided special mortgage deals to the well-connected and powerful, including two U.S. senators.
“The Justice Department is making very serious inquiry into any possible wrongdoing that may involve (former Countrywide CEO) Anthony Mozilo, other Countrywide employees, Sen. Chris Dodd, Sen. Kent Conrad, (former Fannie Mae CEO) Franklin Raines or other public officials,” said Feinberg’s lawyer, Anthony Salvano. “Robert has always cooperated thoroughly with authorities and is strictly a witness in their investigation.”
‘Friends of Angelo’s’
Salvano said the prosecutors and FBI agents seemed focused on whether the preferential treatment given to V.I.P. customers was part of an effort by Countrywide to buy influence - as well as on the conduct of each public official who received a mortgage from Countrywide.
Feinberg says that Countrywide’s clients in this program were known by a nickname.
“We called them F.O.A.’s,” Feinberg told NBC News, “which were Friends of Angelo’s.”
“Angelo” is Countrywide’s then-CEO, Angelo Mozilo, who once called an ordinary borrower’s plea for help on his mortgage payments, “disgusting.”
But Mozilo seemed to have a different attitude toward people of influence. In fact, Feinberg says part of his job was to hammer home to the V.I.P. clients that they were getting special deals.
“You spoke in a manner that was different than you spoke with a regular customer,” said Feinberg. “‘Your loan has been specially priced by Angelo.’ ‘You’re getting special discounts because you’re in the V.I.P. loan department.”
So what would a “Friend of Angelo” get that an average customer would not? According to Feinberg, the possible benefits ran the gamut.
“They got a discount on the interest rate,” said Feinberg. “They got discounts on their fees. They got a free floatdown option before closing.”
In one instance of a “Friends of Angelo” deal, Mozilo sent an e-mail to Feinberg ordering him to “Take off one point” on a loan to Sen. Conrad. That one point equaled a savings of $10,700 in fees.
Feinberg’s client list also runs the gamut. Among those benefitting from the VIP program were four former Cabinet members spanning Democratic and Republican administrations: Henry Cisneros, Richard Holbrooke, Alphonso Jackson, and Donna Shalala. Two former CEO’s of Fannie Mae, James Johnson and Franklin Raines, heads of the government-sponsored entity which bought Countrywide’s mortgages - also received VIP mortgages from Countrywide.
All have denied impropriety and declined to elaborate to NBC News. Some say they had no idea they were getting favorable rates or any sort of discount.
But Feinberg insists part of his job was to make clear to VIP’s they were receiving special treatment.
“There were many, many taglines we used to let them know their level of importance to make sure that they understand where they’re located,” said Feinberg. “And nine times out of ten, once you mention ‘V.I.P’ the person’s gonna ask you ‘what am i getting for being in this V.I.P department?’ Or ‘what am I getting because I know Angelo?’ Or ‘I talked to Angelo and he said I’m getting this.’”
Major shadiness....don’t read the whole piece on a full stomach....it will make you sick.
Feds probe Countrywide’s ‘V.I.P.’ program
NBC NEWS
Previously
August 13, 2007
Too Big to Fail?
1440 Wall Street
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Ex-Credit Suisse Bankers Making Their Mark at Apollo Group
The publicly-traded education stocks have been a battleground the better part of this decade. The group was one of the few to work on the long side of the 2001-'02 bear market, but the shorts eventually had their way as high valuations, shaky management teams and poor student outcomes coalesced into a storm for the stocks.
Picking through the wreckage eventually led Goldman Sachs and SAC Capital to buyout two of the healthier firms left standing, and the granddaddy of them all, Apollo Group (APOL-NASDAQ) has emerged stronger than ever.
Indeed, two investment bankers from Credit Suisse have reinvigorated the management team and the stock. While the new CEO, Chas Edelstein, is best friends with comedian Rob Schneider, the market does not appear to hold it against him, and the earnings announcment was no joke.
Can banker bro's Greg Cappelli and Edelstein keep it going? The quarter they reported was probably the strongest since the company's heydey and a return to form:
Save the Date: 2008 Banker of the Year Awards
We might be in the nasty grip of a Bair Market, but life goes on. And I don't know about you, but the Banker of the Year Awards is always the highlight of my year. Good Times.
There are so many bankers to choose from. Of course, I am not sure if you actually have to be employed to win. That would narrow the field.
Sheila Bair, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., will deliver the keynote address at American Banker's 2008 Banker of the Year Awards, a gala dinner to be held at The Plaza in NYC on Thursday, December 4, the newspaper announced today.
The annual Banker of the Year Awards honor the individuals who set the highest standards of progress, innovation, and performance in the banking and financial services industry. Since the inaugural Best in Banking/Banker of the Year Awards dinner and ceremony in 2001, the gala has become the industry's premier event, attracting a who's who of lawmakers, regulators, and leading executives.
Assuming the voting is not cancelled due to a lack of interest, or bomb threats, my vote goes to John A. Allison IV, the Chairman and CEO of BB&T Corporation (BBT-NYSE). He is the only banker that would appear to know how to actually run a bank, and is stepping down as CEO in December. A fitting tribute for a class act....
Sheila Bair to Keynote American Banker's 2008 Banker of the Year Awards
Marketwatch
John Mack Hit With More Flak
The defining moment of John Mack's career is upon us. Will he be able to pull out of the nosedive or will he parachute to earth?
The CEO of Morgan Stanley (MS-NYSE) watched his stock plummet Thursday; the timing is curious given that the restrictions against shorting financial stocks were lifted Thursday, and a swarm of killer bees descended from Hedgistan to exact a little revenge for Mack's recent lobbying efforts that put a serious hurt on the hedge fund community over the past month:
Short-sellers, those investors who wager against stocks, took renewed aim at the firm. At midnight on Wednesday, regulators lifted a temporary ban on short sales. Mr. Mack had angered many hedge funds by lobbying for the restriction. New York Times
Of course the timing could not be worse for Mack as he tries to nail down a capital injection from Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ. And if that is not bad enough the ratings agencies are rearing their heads at an inopportune moment, with Moody's putting their debt on review for a possible downgrade just as Mack tries to seal the deal with the Japanese.
