Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Swiss Forex Probe: A Swiss watchdog has launched an investigation into whether eight banks manipulated the foreign currency exchange market. The banks include Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS. The Swiss Competition Commission joins a host of other global regulators, including those in the U.K. and the U.S., that are trying to figure out whether financial firms manipulated currency markets. New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal
RBS' New CFO: Royal Bank of Scotland is close to naming a new chief financial officer. An anonymouse says Ewen Stevenson, a Credit Suisse investment banker who advised the government during RBS's bailout, will be named to the position pending approval by the bank's board and the U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority. RBS' previous CFO Nathan Bostock resigned in December to join Santander. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times
Cavanaugh's, Gorman's Pay Days: A regulatory filing has revealed Mike Cavanagh who announced last week that he was leaving JPMorgan Chase for private equity firm Carlyle Group will receive a $39 million payout, thanks to the move. Most of that figure comes courtesy of $32 million in restricted stock Cavanagh will receive to make up for the uninvested JPM stock he was giving up to take the new position. His actual salary will total about $7 million a year for his first three years. News outlets point out this is significantly less than the $17 million Cavanagh received last year in pay from JPM. However, he is expected to make much more down the line as part of a new remuneration plan Carlyle has to keep talent long-term. Meanwhile, another regulatory filing shows James Gorman, Morgan Stanley CEO, will receive $18 million for his work in 2013. The figure, nearly double that of the compensation Gorman received the prior year, was bolstered by a $6 million long-term incentive. New York Times, Bloomberg
Wall Street Journal
A Hong Kong regulator is probing the departure of JPMorgan Chase executive Fang Fang who exited the firm amid growing scrutiny of the banks' Asian hiring practices.
Investors are "bidding up" prices of troubled assets in Europe, due, in part, to defaults and bankruptcies declining in the U.S., "leaving investors with fewer opportunities to buy distressed debt and sell it for a profit in a restructuring."
Financial Times
The Libyan Investment Authority has accused French Bank Société Générale in a lawsuit of "helping to funnel bribes worth tens of millions of dollars to close associates of Saif al-Islam, the son of former Libyan leader Muammer Gaddafi." The bank plans to contest the claim.
The Lex column looks at Ally Financial's IPO: "New shareholders have to bet Ally can continue on its recovery route and U.S. car sales do not stall."
New York Times
Author Michael Lewis is arguing in his new book "Flash Boys" that the stock market is rigged in favor of high-speed traders. You can read an excerpt here.
