Receiving Wide Coverage ...
Corzine in CFTC Crosshairs: Officials filed a civil lawsuit against John Corzine, the former head of MF Global on Thursday, charging misuse of almost $1 billion in customer funds. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission complaint alleges that the former New Jersey governor and U.S. senator did more than just sit on the sidelines as the company spiraled into bankruptcy, though it's still unclear how deeply he was involved with illegal money transfers. The lawsuit suggests that Corzine was "instrumental in making decisions that put customer accounts at risk," according to the Wall Street Journal. But the New York Times says the CFTC does not accuse Corzine of signing off on the breach of customer funds or "even knowing that the wrongdoing had happened," instead focusing on the claim that he failed to "diligently supervise" the firm and "a more ambitious claim" that he is responsible for the actions of employees below him. The lawsuit also implicates one of Corzine's top lieutenants, Edith O'Brien. Meanwhile, regulators settled with MF Global the company agreed to pay back all customer funds and fork over a $100 million fine. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post
Wall Street Journal
"White House Makes Shortlist for Bernanke's Job," but so far insiders say there's no clear frontrunner. Possible names in the mix include Janet Yellen, the Fed's vice chairman, Alan Blinder and Roger Ferguson, two former Fed vice chairmen and Lawrence Summers, an economist who served on Obama's National Economic Council.
Regulators at the Fed, FDIC and OCC have agreed to increase banks' so-called leverage ratio (the amount of equity held against assets), clearing the way for officials to finalize Basel III capital requirements. The Fed is expected to vote on Basel III next week, with the other agencies to follow suit soon thereafter.
B of A told AIG to talk to the hand when the insurance company asked the bank to renegotiate an $8.5 billion deal over soured mortgage-backed securities, according to a new court filing.
Michael O'Neill, Citi's chairman, says the bank may add up to three more board members; it currently has 11.
Financial Times
Investment banking fees grew 9% in the first half of 2013, despite slowing M&A activity. Meanwhile, U.S. investment banking operations' share of worldwide business rose three percentage points to 46% of total activity over the same period.
New York Times
Floyd Norris criticizes the use of derivatives as "weapons of mass deception" by those who know how to sidestep certain tax and accounting rules.
