Showing posts with label Lehman Brothers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lehman Brothers. Show all posts
"Peter Sivere George Demos" - Searched by Lehman Brothers - New York
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
"peter sivere and geroge demos"
My Guess is that Lehman Brothers meant to search "Peter Sivere George Demos" - the thing is why are they so interested in Peter Sivere - every day they are searching something about Peter Sivere. So you have JP Morgan Issues, Proskauer Rose connected to JP Morgan.. Proskauer Rose VERY interested in my Posts on Neuberger Berman, and now Lehman Brothers every day googling about Peter Sivere... what are they all hiding.. ???
Lehman Brothers seems to have underpriced Neuberger Berman, and participated in Bankruptcy Corruption.. oh well as we know from the Summit 1031 Bankruptcy - the Iviewit Technologies Patent Theft - the Petters Bankruptcy and more.. well the Bankruptcy Courts is the Biggest business of all.. the Creditors, Shareholders get screwed... the Attorneys get Mega-Rich, the Public Get to Pay Huge Bailouts.. and the FBI and DOJ they do nothing to "over sight" the US Bankruptcy Courts and Bankruptcy Laws.. no one holds the Bankruptcy Trustee, Judge or Attorneys accountable and the Pay off For Corruption is Irresistable...
Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy Corruption
Monday, March 22, 2010
Googling my Sites for ... "Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy Corruption" ...
Read more...Lehman accounting tricks possibly illegal - Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy - Lehman Brothers Whistleblower
Friday, March 19, 2010
"" NEW YORK – A Lehman Brothers whistleblower warned his bosses that accounting gimmicks the bank used before its collapse may have been illegal, his lawyer said Friday.
Matthew Lee, a former Lehman senior vice president, was fired days after questioning the accounting tricks in a letter to his superiors, attorney Erwin Shustak said. Shustak gave a copy of the letter to The Associated Press.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. imploded in September 2008, becoming the biggest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history. The collapse sent financial markets across the globe into a free-fall and prompted a massive bailout of the U.S. banking system.
An examiner appointed by the bankruptcy court said in a 2,200-page report last week that Lehman hid its debt and perilous financial condition by using an accounting gimmick called Repo 105. The report revealed Lee's warnings to the bank, though his letter makes public the first internal assessment of the legality of Lehman's bookkeeping.
In a letter dated May 18, 2008, Lee wrote that he discovered that the bank had been underreporting its debt by about $5 billion at the end of each month.
Lee, a 14-year Lehman veteran, wrote that he felt compelled to report the "discrepancies" under the firm's code of ethics, saying he believed they "possibly constitute unethical or unlawful conduct."
"I believe the manner in which the firm is reporting these assets is potentially misleading to the public and various governmental agencies," Lee wrote. "If so, I believe the firm may be in violation of the code."
Days after sending the letter, the firm told Lee he was being terminated as part of a general layoff, Shustak said. After his firing, Shustak wrote a letter to the bank saying that Lee "believes he has been the victim of retaliation for bringing what he believed, in good faith, to have been ethical and securities law violations by Lehman."
Lee, 56, later reached a severance agreement with Lehman, however, he stopped receiving payments after the firm's collapse, Shustak said. He has filed a claim with the bankruptcy court to recover the unpaid amount.
The bankruptcy examiner's report and Lee's letter could provide a framework for any future legal action against Lehman executives.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd on Friday called for Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the circumstances that led to Lehman's collapse. A Justice Department spokeswoman said the department would review the request.
The examiner, Anton Valukas, discovered that Lehman put together complex transactions that allowed the firm to sell "toxic," mostly mortgage-backed, securities at the end of a quarter — wiping them off its balance sheet when regulators and shareholders were examining it — and then quickly buy them back.
His report doesn't conclude whether executives violated securities laws. It does say that the executives' decision not to disclose the effects of its business judgments appears to be sufficient evidence to support the awarding of civil damages in a trial.
The executives named by the report include former CEO Richard Fuld and three chief financial officers. Fuld has denied knowing what the transactions were or the accounting for them.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro said Wednesday that the agency is investigating several companies' actions in the run-up to the financial crisis of 2008. Without naming Lehman or other banks, Shapiro said the bankruptcy examiner's report raised "some very interesting points" and will be helpful to the SEC probe. ""
Source
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100319/ap_on_bi_ge/us_lehman_brothers_whistleblower
Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners III, L.P.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
"" EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners III, L.P. (together with its parallel funds, the “Fund” or
“LBREP III”) is a global real estate merchant banking fund being formed to continue Lehman
Brothers’ successful real estate investment activities.
The Fund is the third generation opportunistic real estate private equity fund of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (“Lehman Brothers” or the “Firm”) and follows the success of Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners II, L.P. (“LBREP II”), a $2.4 billion fund formed in December 2004, and its predecessor Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners, L.P. (“LBREP I”), a $1.6 billion real estate fund formed in 2000 (together, the “LBREP Funds”). PSERS has committed previously to Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners Funds I & II.
The Fund will be managed by Lehman Brothers Real Estate Associates III, L.P. The Fund is targeting total capital commitments of $4.0 billion for opportunistic real estate equity investments primarily in North America, Europe and Asia.
As
with the LBREP Funds, Lehman Brothers and its employees will make a substantial contribution
to the Fund, totaling at least the lesser of 20% of the total commitment and $800 million. This
significant investment substantially aligns the interests among Lehman Brothers and its
employees, the limited partners of the Fund and the management and employees dedicated to
the Fund.
The Fund will benefit from its position in the Real Estate Private Equity Group (“REPE”), an
integrated component of Lehman Brothers’ Global Private Equity business, headed by Michael
Odrich, and the Global Real Estate Group (the “Global Real Estate Group” or “GREG”), led by
Mark Walsh. The Fund will be Lehman Brothers’ primary vehicle for opportunistic investment in real estate and will be managed by Global Co-Heads, Brett Bossung and Mark H. Newman,each with over 18 years of industry experience. The close working relationship between REPE and GREG offers the Fund a unique opportunity to access the Firm’s deal flow globally and enjoy the benefit of the many relationships established by Lehman Brothers with real estate entrepreneurs around the world. '"
Full Document and Source
http://164.156.7.89/org/board/resolutions/2007/lehman_20071213.pdf
MARK A. WALSH was a Managing Director of Lehman Brothers ... private equity portfolio with former Lehman colleagues Brett Bossung - Mark Newman
"" Mark was a Managing Director of Lehman Brothers, Head of the Global Real Estate Group, and a voting partner in all of Lehman's real estate private equity funds.
Mr. Walsh spent over twenty years with Lehman Brothers, where he oversaw the firm's distressed mortgage debt acquisitions, real estate equity and lending activities.
During his career at Lehman Brothers, Mr. Walsh oversaw the origination of more than $300 billion of commercial real estate debt and equity transactions (both for the firm and its private equity business).
Under his leadership, Lehman Brothers was a top ranked CMBS underwriter both globally and domestically and compiled a very successful equity investment track record. In addition to his responsibilities in Real Estate, Mr Walsh was a member of Lehman Brothers' Investment Committee, the Lehman Brothers' Management Committee and the Fixed Income Operating Committee.
Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Mr. Walsh was a lawyer and represented financial market transactions. Mr. Walsh is also a Founding Member of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA and holds a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross and a J.D. from Fordham Law a School. ""
Source
http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Walsh_Mark_8930637.aspx
Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners 1, 2 and 3...
Friday, March 12, 2010
"" ... Mark Walsh and Brett Bossung, to keeping a watch over what is going to happen with ownership of the general partner entity in Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners I, Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners II and Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners III (all Delaware limited partnerships).
.... Lehman Brothers Holdings Chief Restructuring Officer, Bryan Marsal, acquiesced in the disclosure of information, roughly 9 months ago, saying that the general partner entities were going to be sold to Mark A. Walsh, Brett Bossung and Mark Newman. I think the purchase price was in the neighborhood of $10 Million to $15 Million.
... working to help communities harmed by environmental and public safety problems created by bankrupt lenders and bankrupt developers.
... Concerning Walsh, Bossung and Newman's purchase of LBREP I, LBREP II and LBREP III's general partner entities, .....
... stories speculated, in a veiled manner, that the sale was being held up by the New Jersey Attorney General's lawsuit against Dick Fuld, Mark A. Walsh and both Bossung and Newman if I remembered correctly, i.e. some of the limited partners were withholding their consents to the supposed "bad actors" Walsh, Bossung and Newman getting back in the LBREP drivers seats.
Through bankruptcy court, securities, and state pension agency filings, we've discovered that LBREP I, LBREP II, and LBREP III's limited partners are pension funds, investment funds and iindividuals, and that they own about 98% of each company, with the respective Lehman owned and affiliated general partner owning the other roughly 2% of each of LBREP I, LBREP II and LBREP III. (We're read that the general partners are named LBREA I, LBREA II and LBREA III.)
Even though neither LBREP I, LBREP II nor LBREP III are bankrupt, nor are the entities which are their general partners bankrupt, apparently about 6 months before the Lehman Brothers Holdings bankruptcy in September 2008, Walsh, Bossung, Newman, and a few other employees in their department at Lehman, decided to stop funding money to development projects in which LBREP II had invested, including many so called Lehman/SunCal entities' projects.
As a result, all of the Lehman/SunCal entities real estate got blistered with mechanics liens for unpaid subcontractor bills, and they all ended up in Chapter 11's...some involuntary Chapter 11's because Walsh, Bossung, Newman and Lehman's NY based bankruptcy lawyers wouldn't consent to the filing of voluntary bankruptcies.
All of the Lehman/SunCal related real estate entity bankruptcies are listed below FYI. There is very complicated litigation ongoing between SunCal and Lehman, as part of those bankruptcies as an adversary proceeding in the "In re Palmdale Hills" case, relating to the Lehman entities acting as equity owners (like LBREP II) and Lehman entities acting as mortgage lenders (like Lehman Ali and Lehman Commercial Paper, Inc.) failing to fund to pay pre-existing construction related bills. That mess is probably going to go on for several years.
The informal bankruptcy task force got involved in one of the Lehman/SunCal projects in bankruptcy, when Walsh, Bossung, Newman and pals failed to fund in excess of $15 Million to pay bills at a project called "Oak Knoll" in Oakland, CA.
The City of Oakland had issued an "abatement order" requiring the Lehman/SunCal entity controlled by LBREP II, and the bankruptcy trustee over the Oakland project to "Abate a Nuisance" in the form of a horrific fire hazard at the property....an "abatement order" which Bossung and Newman simply ignored.
... document called SunCal865 from the bankruptcy court, or do a search with the words Oakland, Oak Knoll, fire, Lehman and SunCal to see all the news stories, which were carried in the SF Chronicle, Oakland Tribune and a few national publications about the severe fire hazard. Also a local blog called www.ActionAlameda.org had good stories. The action on the fire hazard at the Oak Knoll project was happening between June 2009 and January 2010.
Bossung, Newman and pals running LBREP II were completely recalcitrant in coming up with the money to do the City-ordered fire hazard abatement work at Oak Knoll, and ultimately the Oakland City Attorney and Alameda County District Attorney apparently "convinced" Bryan Marsal (who is the CRO/CEO of bankrupt Lehman and thereby currently the boss of LBREA II's staff) and the bankruptcy trustee over the Oak Knoll project, that they were looking at jail time if they refused to come up with the money to abate the fire hazard. [Of course, we were not first hand participants in the meetings.
We got the information from the Oak Knoll bankruptcy trustee's timesheet entries.] As a result, Bryan Marsal and another partner in Alvarez & Marsal convinced another Lehman entity Marsal runs, Lehman Ali, Inc., to lend the money to the bankruptcy trustee to do the fire hazard abatement work at Oak Knoll under a first lien real estate secured loan to the trustee.
LBREP II's 90% indirect ownership interest in Oak Knoll is "out of the money" because a $150+ Million mortgage to Lehman Ali, Inc. is senior to it, and the extra $7.7 million in fire and asbestos hazard abatement work simply puts LBREP II further out of the money. However, kvetching by Walsh, Bossung & Newman on behalf of LBREP II's limited partners would not have been helpful in the process of resolving the Oak Knoll fire hazard abatement problem.
So far, all has ended well, because Bryan Marsal got the situation resolved before Walsh, Bossung & Newman bought LBREA I, LBREA II and LBREA III, i.e. before Walsh, Bossung & Newman could stick their finger in the bankruptcy case independently of Marsal, in the name of LBREP II, and try to screw things up on resolution of the fire hazard issue as a means of getting leverage on Lehman Ali, Inc.
However, our little group of "environmental/public safety bankruptcy problem solvers" are still shocked that the sale of those general partnership interests in LBREP I, LBREP II and LBREP III to Walsh, Bossung and Newman is really going to "close escrow", because of the New Jersey Attorney General's litigation.
.... Although the fire hazard abatement work is just about to physically start, at a cost of about $7.7 Million (including make-up payments to the asbestos demolition contractor), if the money provided by Lehman Ali, Inc.'s secured loan to the Oak Knoll trustee "runs short" or if other problems develop, Walsh, Bossung & Newman would end up being parties with an opportunity to gripe, on behalf of LBREP II, about further expenditures. So I guess you could say that the well-informed neighbors of the Oak Knoll project will not be thrilled to hear that Walsh, Bossung & Newman are going to get control of LBREP II's decision making free from Bryan Marsal's supervision.
..., the Lehman/SunCal bankruptcy case numbers,
all pending in the Central District of California are:
Earliest Involuntary Chapter 11 Cased Filed by Unhappy Mechanics Lien and Junior Mortgage Creditors, where Chapter 11 Trustee Now Controls Projects. All case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California, Santa Ana branch, Hon. Erithe Smith, Bankruptcy Judge:
LBREP/L-SunCal Master I LLC - Case No. 08-bk-15588-ES (Lead Case for Motion Filing Purposes)
LBREP/L-SunCal McAllister Ranch LLC - Case No. 08-bk-15637-ES (Bakersfield project)
LBREP/L-SunCal McSweeney Farms LLC - Case No. 08-bk-15639-ES (CA Inland Empire Project)
LBREP/L-SunCal Summerwind Ranch LLC - Case No. 08-bk-15640-ES (CA Inland Empire Project)
4 total.....These 4 cases have a Chapter 11 Trustee other than Steven Speier
Voluntary Chapter 11 Cases Filed by SunCal management. All case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California, Santa Ana branch, Hon. Erithe Smith, Bankruptcy Judge. Steven Speier is Ch. 11 trustee on involuntary cases:
Palmdale Hills Property, LLC - Case 8:08-bk-17206-ES (Lead Case for Motion Filing Purposes on All 26 Bankruptcies below)
SunCal Beaumont Heights LLC - Case 8:08-bk-17209-ES (Inland Empire Project)
SunCal Bickford Ranch LLC - Case 8:08-bk-17231-ES (Penryn, CA Project)
SunCal Communities I, LLC - 8:08-bk-17248-ES (Investment Entity)
SunCal Communities III, LLC - 8:08-bk-17249-ES (Investment Entity)
SunCal Emerald Meadows Ranch, LLC - 8:08-bk-17230-ES (Inland Empire Project)
SunCal Johannson Ranch, LLC - 8:08-bk-17225-ES (Inland Empire Project)
SunCal Summit Valley, LLC - 8:08-bk-17227-ES (Inland Empire Project)
SCC/Palmdale, LLC - 8:08-bk-17204-ES (Palmdale, CA project called Ritter Ranch)
Acton Estates, LLC - 8:08-bk-17236-ES (L.A. County project north east of Santa Clarita, CA)
Seven Brothers, LLC - 8:08-bk-17240-ES (Victorville Project)
SJD Partners, LTD - 8:08-bk-17242-ES (Investment Entity)
SJD Development Corp. - 8:08-bk-17249-ES (Investment Entity)
Kirby Estates, LLC - 8:08-bk-17246-ES (Inland Empire) ....................................................14 cases
First 4 of 9 Involuntary Cases Filed by SunCal management in Santa Ana to avoid Lehman consent problem :
SunCal Heartland LLC 08-bk-17407-ES (Riverside County Project)
LB/L-SunCal Oak Valley LLC 08-bk-17404-ES (Riverside County Project)
LB/L-SunCal Northlake LLC 08-bk-17408-ES (L.A. County Project in Castaic, north of Santa Clarita)
SunCal Marblehead LLC 08-bk-17409-ES (San Clemente, Orange County Project)................................4 cases
Second 4 of 9 Involunary Cases Filed by SunCal management on 11/14 in Santa Ana to avoid Lehman consent problem:
SunCal Century City, LLC Case 8:08-bk-17458-ES (City of Los Angeles Century City Project, Danske Bank as assignee of Lehman mortgage already OK'd to foreclose)
SunCal PSV, LLC - Case 8:08-bk-17465-ES ("Palm Springs Village" in Palm Springs Area)
SunCal Torrance Properties, LLC - Case 8:08-bk-17472-ES (Del Amo Fashion Center land, Torrance CA)
Delta Coves Venture, LLC - Case 8:08-bk-17470-ES (San Joaquin delta area near Sacramento, CA).................4 cases
More voluntary Chapter 11 cases filed on 11/19/08 in Santa Ana:
Tesoro SF, LLC - Case 8:08-bk-17523 (L.A. County Project north of Santa Clarita, CA)
SCC Communities LLC - Case 8:08-bk-17572 (San Bernardino Co., CA Project )
North Orange Del Rio Land, LLC Case 8:08-bk-17574 (City of Orange CA).......................3 cases
Last 1 of 9 involuntary Chapter 11 cases filed by SunCal management on 11/19/08 in Santa Ana:
SunCal Oak Knoll, LLC, Case 8:08-bk-17588 (Oakland, CA Project)...............................1 case,
30 Lehman/SunCal bankruptcy cases total as of 11/19/08. None filed thereafter. ""
Got a Tip on Lehman Brothers... Or anything in this Post...??
Email Me Crystal L. Cox Investigative Blogger at
Crystal@CrystalCox.com
Walsh in Line to Take Over Lehman Funds
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
""Mark Walsh is leading a team of Lehman Brothers executives who are close to taking over management of the bankrupt company's property funds, a move that would mark the return of one of Wall Street's biggest real estate dealmakers.
The largest limited partners in three funds with $7.2 billion of total equity signed off on transferring the management rights to the Walsh group after considering counteroffers from other fund operators, including AREA Property Partners of New York. It's unclear if the group will also be named operating partner of Lehman's two mezzanine-debt funds, which have $2.3 billion of total equity. The transfer is still subject to a vote by all of the funds' limited partners, who are expected to approve the hand off.
The Walsh team plans to relinquish the right to draw down $1.6 billion of uninvested capital from investors and focus on harvesting existing investments. It will also slash management fees. The fund's largest limited partners evidently were swayed by the team's familiarity with the assets and the fact that the group offered to manage them for less than the other bidders. Lehman declined to comment.
As head of Lehman's global real estate group, Walsh financed dozens of major property transactions during the real estate boom, supplying both equity and debt. He built a reputation as one of Wall Street's savviest and most aggressive real estate operators. But Lehman's mammoth $33 billion real estate portfolio was hammered by the downturn, contributing to the company's bankruptcy filing last September and leading to Walsh's departure.
Real estate players have been speculating about when they would see the re-emergence of Walsh, who was a 20-year Lehman veteran. The operation being formed by the Walsh team to manage the Lehman funds could eventually become an investment platform.
"This is very good for the investors because it brings Mark Walsh back to the market," said one veteran real estate player. "He has had his head down since the bankruptcy, but it is good for the market that he is back."
Joining Walsh are Brett Bossung and Mark Newman, co-heads of Lehman's real estate private equity division, who have continued to oversee the funds since the firm entered bankruptcy. The buzz is that the team also includes Kevin Dinnie and Rodolpho Amboss, both managing directors and principals in Lehman's fund shop.
But Michael McNamara announced in an e-mail to colleagues that he would resign as managing director and principal at the end of the month. He spent nine years in that position, with a focus on acquisitions. The buzz is that he decided against joining the new firm because the Lehman funds won't be making new investments. He plans to explore new opportunities.
The Walsh team would become general partners of three global property funds - the $1.6 billion Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners 1, the $2.4 billion Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners 2 and the $3.2 billion Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners 3. Lehman will retain its equity stakes in the vehicles. The first two funds are fully invested, and the third fund is about half invested.
The management group will draw down a small amount of the $1.6 billion of uninvested capital in the third fund to support existing investments. But investors will be released from most of those commitments.
The management fee will be 0.55%, well below the industry norm of 1.5%. The incentive fees are also being pared back. However, the team would be entitled to higher compensation if prescribed performance hurdles are achieved.
The fund's investments will be wound down slowly to avoid fire sales in the depressed market.""
Source
http://www.realert.com/headlines.php?hid=52897
FINRA Board To Address Allegations Of Mary Schapiro’s Misconduct
Monday, February 15, 2010
Is Mary Schapiro a Fox in the Hen House ?
"" Are the wagons circling around Mary Schapiro and her former FINRA colleagues?
Regular readers of Sense on Cents are familiar with the issues and concerns I have raised repeatedly with Wall Street’s self-regulator, FINRA.
I continue to believe the issues embedded within this self-regulatory organization lie near the heart of what I deem the Wall Street-Washington nexus.
Perhaps America will learn more about these issues soon. Why?
Next week, FINRA’s Board of Directors will address alleged wrongdoings by Ms. Schapiro et al. What are the issues? Please review this release put out this morning highlighting a number of questions I have been asking for the last year.
Will the Board realize it ultimately needs to be accountable to ALL its member firms and, by extension, to the American public at large? Will the Obama administration compel the Board to provide the transparency America so badly wants?
FINRA MUST OPEN ITS BOOKS and RECORDS and ANSWER to AMERICA!!
FINRA BOARD TO CONSIDER ALLEGED WRONGDOING BY FORMER CHAIR MARY SCHAPIRO AND HER COLLEAGUES
Feb. 10 Closed Door Board Meeting to Consider Broker-Dealer’s Allegations
WASHINGTON, DC, February 4 - On February 10, 2010, the Board of Governors of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (”FINRA”) will consider allegations of gross mismanagement set forth in a December 4, 2009 letter to the Board on behalf of Amerivet Securities, Inc. (”Amerivet”), a member of FINRA.
The letter demands that FINRA take action against Mary Schapiro and other senior FINRA executives to recover excessive compensation and unprecedented portfolio losses stemming from FINRA’s dismal 2008 regulatory and investment performance. In 2008, Ms. Schapiro’s last year as FINRA chair, that organization:
Failed to act against Bernard Madoff and Robert Allen Stanford, who perpetrated two of the largest Ponzi schemes in history;
Failed to act against large FINRA members Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch in connection with their roles in the subprime mortgage securities scandals;
Failed to warn investors about Auction Rate Securities (ARS) problems, after FINRA had liquidated its own ARS holdings in mid-2007, but before the ARS market “froze” and there were any public disclosures about the risks inherent in such “investments”;
Suffered nearly $700 million in loses;
PAID ITS SENIOR EXECUTIVES NEARLY $30 MILLION.
Broker-Dealer: “Schapiro and Colleagues Bilked FINRA of Millions”
Amerivet principal, Lt. Col. Elton Johnson (U.S. Army Reserve), an Iraq War combat veteran, stated:
“Despite President Obama’s call for accountability for wrongdoing, past and present, Mary Schapiro and her colleagues have thus far gotten away with bilking FINRA of tens of millions of dollars in 2008, even as that self-regulatory organization failed in its fundamental responsibility to protect investors, and FINRA sustained nearly $700 million in financial loses. It is ironic that Mary Schapiro received a salary more than 15 times that of a four star general, while FINRA was, by any measure, failing miserably.”
Whistleblower: FINRA “Definitely In Bed With Industry”
During his 2009 testimony, Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos told Congress that FINRA is “definitely in bed with the industry” and “[gets] an A+ for corruption.” Separately, a report from SEC Inspector General David Kotz quotes Bernard Madoff as referring to Ms. Schapiro as a “dear friend.”
Attorney Richard Greenfield added:
“The excessive compensation packages for the FINRA self-regulatory executives who failed to regulate represent cynical and hypocritical examples of the incestuous Wall Street-Washington relationships that have incensed voters across the United States.”
Amerivet is a small broker-dealer located in Moreno Valley, California and a member in good standing of FINRA. Lt. Col. Johnson has been an officer in the United States Army Reserve for 24 years.
He has completed two tours of duty in Iraq, he is currently on active military duty at Fort Irwin, CA, and he will soon begin preparations for deployment to Afghanistan later this year.
What will the Board do? For whom are they working?
High time we received real truth, transparency, and integrity. ""
Source of Post
http://www.dailymarkets.com/economy/2010/02/04/finra-board-to-address-allegations-of-mary-schapiros-misconduct/
mary schapiro
Mary Schapiro has had plenty of advanced warning to Help the Shareholders of Time Warner, Intel, Lockheed Martin,IBM, Sony, Warner Bros., AOL and More with an SEC Complaint Filed by Iviewit Technologies Owner Eliot Bernstein. Click Here to Read That SEC Complaint.
posted here by
Investigative Blogger
Crystal L. Cox
crystal cox whistleblower
More on the Trillion Dollar Iviewit Stolen Patent at
www.DeniedPatent.com and www.Iviewit.TV
mary shapiro sec - mary schapiro
Facing a big loss, Lehman will sell majority stake in investment management unit
Friday, February 5, 2010
Quote...
"NEW YORK — Lehman Brothers, the investment bank in an all-out fight for its survival, said Wednesday that it expected a third-quarter loss of $3.9 billion, or $5.92 a share, after $5.6 billion in write-downs.
The investment bank also said that it would spin off the majority of its remaining commercial real estate holdings into a new public company to be owned by Lehman shareholders.
And it confirmed plans to sell a majority of its investment management division in a move that it expected to generate at least $3 billion and perhaps more.
Lehman still hopes to receive a majority of the net income from the unit by retaining higher-margin businesses like its stakes in individual hedge fund groups.
After initially jumping on the news, Lehman shares fluctuated in morning trading and were up 2 cents at $7.81 in late trading in New York.
The new decline came after Lehman's stock lost nearly half its value Tuesday as investors feared it was running out of options to raise capital and shore up its ailing balance sheet.
Shares in Lehman, a major underwriter of mortgage-related securities during the credit boom, are down more than 90 percent since hitting their peak last year, before the subprime mortgage crisis.
The tepid reaction to Lehman's announcements suggested that investors were eager to hear fewer words from Lehman and see more action.
"To decrease investor uncertainty, Lehman must have a definitive agreement by Monday to either sell its profitable asset management business, Neuberger Berman, sell a large portion of its subprime real estate exposure, reduce its leverage ratios or line up a deep-pocketed buyer to either buy the company outright or take a significant ownership stake - a lot to accomplish in three working days," said Mark Williams, a management professor at Boston University.
Lehman said Wednesday that it hoped to complete the spinoff of about $32 billion in commercial mortgage assets by early next year.
Among other decisions, Lehman also said that it would cut its annual dividend to 5 cents a share from 68 cents and that it remained committed to examining "all strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value."
"This is an extraordinary time for our industry, and one of the toughest periods in the firm's history," the chief executive, Richard Fuld, said. "The strategic initiatives we have announced today reflect our determination to fundamentally reposition Lehman Brothers by dramatically reducing balance sheet risk, reinforcing our focus on our client-facing businesses and returning the firm to profitability."
On a conference call, Fuld said Lehman had been tested many times in the past and survived.
"This firm has a history of facing adversity and delivering. We have a long track record of pulling together when times are tough and taking advantage of global opportunities," he said on a conference call. "We are on the right track to put these last two quarters behind us."
Analysts said the planned spinoff reflected the poor state of the commercial mortgage markets.
"It's not a good sign," said Brad Hintz, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein. "It's really a sign of the illiquidity in the markets - that no one wants to buy these assets."
And others warned that Lehman would face questions about how it assigned assets to the new company.
"What's a bad asset, and what's a good asset, and what's in the middle?" said Jonathan Macy, a professor at the Yale Law School. "There have got to be judgment calls."
Macy also expressed concern about what options the new company might have to put the bad assets back onto Lehman's books.
Lehman's announcement came a day after the bank's shares plunged 45 percent after reports that its efforts to secure a strategic investment from Korea Development Bank had failed. Investors also feared that the U.S. government would not bail out Lehman as it has the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the investment bank Bear Stearns.
Lehman has been struggling amid growing losses on its commercial and residential real estate holdings. It has been shopping its prized investment management division, which includes Neuberger Berman. People with knowledge of the auction say Lehman has asked for final bids to be submitted by this weekend.
Lehman has been under heavy pressure since the collapse of Bear Stearns, as investors believe its heavy reliance on mortgage-related underwriting and trading could lead it to suffer the same fate that forced Bear Stearns into an emergency sale to JP Morgan Chase.
Lehman has steadfastly said that its balance sheet remained much stronger than Bear Stearns's ever was and that it continued to have access to an emergency lending facility put in place by the Federal Reserve after Bear Stearns's near collapse.
But the plunge Tuesday of Lehman shares fanned worries about the troubles plaguing the broader financial industry and sent the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index tumbling 3.4 percent. The decline more than wiped out the market's rally on Monday, when stocks surged after the weekend rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
There has been a growing sense on Wall Street that Lehman may have to solve its problems on its own. Since March, Lehman has been in a fight for its life, as some investors, including prominent short-sellers betting against the bank's stock, questioned how the firm was valuing some of its assets. Lehman lost $2.8 billion in the second quarter and was forced to raise $6 billion in new capital. But investors were not placated, and the firm was compelled to explore more extreme measures.
Fuld has replaced the head of virtually every major division, including the firm's president and chief financial officer. He has also replaced the global head of fixed income - the division from which most of Lehman's problems have arisen - twice.
But with every measure taken, Lehman's stock price has fallen further.
Michael J. de la Merced and Louise Story contributed reporting. "
Link to Quote Source, Full Article and More on this Topic
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/business/worldbusiness/10iht-lehman.4.16050480.html
posted by
Crystal L. Cox
Industry Whistleblower
Lehman Plans Neuberger Auction, Real Estate Spinoff
""" Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., reporting the biggest loss in its 158-year history, said it will sell a majority stake in its asset-management unit, spin off commercial real-estate holdings and cut the dividend in an effort to shore up capital and regain investor confidence.
Lehman rose in New York trading after posting a $3.9 billion third-quarter loss on $5.6 billion of writedowns, worse than the $2.2 billion loss analysts had predicted.
The company said it's auctioning off about 55 percent of the asset- management group, including fund-manager Neuberger Berman, and didn't name potential bidders.
The real-estate spinoff is expected to be completed in the first fiscal quarter of 2009, according to a statement today.
``They are saying `we are fine now,' and that's buying them time to negotiate for that additional capital,'' Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in New York and former Lehman finance chief, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``They will need capital as part of the spinoff.''
Pressure on Lehman's Richard Fuld, the longest-serving chief executive officer on Wall Street, mounted yesterday after talks with Korea Development Bank ended, sending the shares tumbling 45 percent. Fuld is striving to convince investors that the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm will stem losses as housing prices decline. He and his management team also must keep clients and employees from leaving the company.
``This is an extraordinary time for our industry and one of the toughest periods in the firm's history,'' Fuld, 62, said in the statement.
Default Protection
Lehman gained 31 cents, or 4 percent, to $8.10 at 9:45 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, as the cost to protect against a default by Lehman rose to a record. Credit- default swaps on Lehman jumped 75 basis points to 550 basis points as of 9:12 a.m., according to broker Phoenix Partners Group. That approached a previous peak of 580 basis points in March after the collapse and emergency sale of Bear Stearns Cos. to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The global credit-market meltdown has led to more than $500 billion of writedowns and credit losses since it began a year ago, sending financial shares around the world swooning. Lehman, the worst performer on the 11-company Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index this year, has lost 88 percent.
The New York-based securities firm moved its third-quarter earnings announcement up a week after a person familiar with the matter said yesterday that talks with state-owned Korea Development had ended, causing the stock to sink.
BlackRock Deal
Lehman is ``formally engaged with'' with BlackRock Inc., the biggest publicly traded U.S. fund manager, to sell about $4 billion of the investment bank's U.K. residential mortgage holdings, according to today's statement. Lehman said the transact
ion would help reduce the firm's stake in home mortgages by 47 percent to $13.2 billion.
Lehman had about $65 billion in mortgage-related assets at the end of the second quarter. Most of the portfolio, about $40 billion, was tied to commercial real estate.
The firm said it plans to spin off $25 billion to $30 billion of commercial real estate investments into a separate publicly traded company, to be called Real Estate Investments Global, in the first quarter in 2009. Lehman also said it will cut its dividend to 5 cents per common share from 68 cents.
``It's still this incrementalism that I think ultimately Wall Street's not going to be very satisfied with,'' Chuck Carlson, a portfolio manager at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``Lehman is trying to cling to the fact that they came come out of this independent and I'm not so sure that that's going to be the case.''
KKR, Bain
The Wall Street investment bank has been in talks with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Bain Capital LLC and other private-equity firms interested in buying its asset-management unit.
Fuld blundered by not getting out of mortgage securities fast enough after the U.S. housing market began to crumble last year, said Richard Bove, an analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Fuld also moved too slowly to bring in a capital infusion from outside investors, Bove said.
``The opportunity has been there, but the lack of willingness to deal on Fuld's part has been huge,'' Bove said.
Once the biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage-backed securities, Lehman was stuck with the assets after two Bear Stearns hedge funds that invested in the instruments collapsed in July 2007, causing the market to freeze.
Job Cuts
The ensuing credit contraction ultimately led to the takeover of Bear Stearns, once the fifth-biggest U.S. securities firm, by JPMorgan for $10 a share in a deal backed by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Banks and brokerages, trying to reduce costs as revenue dried up, have cut more than 110,000 jobs.
Standard & Poor's said yesterday it may lower its A1 long- term rating on Lehman because the ``precipitous decline'' in the share price creates uncertainty about the firm's ability to raise additional capital. S&P said Lehman's liquidity is ``sound,'' noting the firm has the ability to borrow from the Federal Reserve.
Bear Stearns, which was the fifth-largest U.S. securities firm, was forced to sell itself or face bankruptcy as clients pulled their funds and other firms refused to trade with it. Bear Stearns was the largest underwriter of mortgage-backed assets for three years before 2007, when Lehman displaced it in the rankings.
The Fed agreed to take on $32 billion of mortgage assets from Bear Stearns's books to enable the sale of the firm to JPMorgan.
CEO Casualties
The credit crisis has claimed the jobs of at least 10 CEOs so far, including James ``Jimmy'' Cayne, who had led Bear Stearns since 1983 and Charles O. ``Chuck'' Prince, Citigroup Inc.'s CEO since 2003.
Founded in 1850 by three Jewish immigrants from Germany, Lehman has managed to avert previous potential disasters and is now among the handful of U.S. financial firms that have endured for more than a century.
Lehman has been on the verge of collapse at least four times: in 1929, when the stock market crashed; in 1973, when the firm lost $6.7 million betting on interest rates; in 1984, when internal dissension led to a takeover by American Express Co.; and in 1994, when newly independent Lehman faced a capital shortage.
Lehman's second-quarter loss of $2.8 billion was its first as a publicly traded company.
Management Shuffle
``I hope Lehman doesn't succumb this time either because we're running out of investment banks,'' said Sean Egan, president of Egan-Jones Ratings Co. ``And it takes 100 years to create a good one.''
Fuld, who joined Lehman in 1969, attempted to shore up the firm's finances last quarter by raising $14 billion of capital, selling $147 billion of assets, increasing cash holdings and reducing its reliance on short-term funding to create a buffer against a possible bank run. He replaced his second-in-command, Joseph Gregory, with Bart McDade, a 49-year-old known within the firm for his cautious approach to risk taking. """
Source and Full Article
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&refer=home&sid=aqetYDRNUTMs
posted by Crystal L. Cox
Industry Whistleblower
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