FASB Rejects Exempting Older Derivatives
NEW YORK -- U.S. accounting rulemakers Wednesday rejected a proposal to exempt older transactions from a new accounting rule requiring corporations to report the fair market value of derivatives holdings.The Financial Accounting Standards Board in Norwalk, Conn., had reopened discussion of the issue after the Bond Market Association, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, J.P. Morgan & Co., and others argued that corporations could face added costs as they race to adopt the new rule, known as Statement 133.
They urged the board to "grandfather" derivatives transactions that corporations entered before 1999.
After the standards board considers other revisions next week, Statement 133 is to take effect June 15 without a grandfathering clause. Companies that use a calendar year must comply with the rule beginning Jan. 1.
Warburg Hires a Lehman Syndications Chief
NEW YORK -- Warburg Dillon Read, the investment banking unit of Switzerland's UBS AG, hired David Juge of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to head U.S. loan syndications.Mr. Juge was the sixth executive Warburg has hired away from Lehman's leveraged loan operation since December. In his new role, Mr. Juge is to link Warburg's loan sales and trading unit with loan originations handled by its acquisition and leveraged-finance team, the bank said.
Mr. Juge, previously Lehman's head of U.S. loan syndications, is to report to Chris Ryan, global head of banking products. It was the Swiss bank's hiring of Mr. Ryan from Lehman last December that began the flood of defections from the No. 4 U.S. securities house.
Mr. Juge joins Warburg as a managing director. He was at Lehman for two years and at Chase Manhattan Corp. for 12 years before that.
-- Bloomberg News
Amex Hires Monsanto Exec to Be Its CFO
NEW YORK -- American Express Co. named Gary Crittenden executive vice president and chief financial officer on Wednesday.Mr. Crittenden, 46, succeeds Richard Goeltz, who last year announced his plan to retire. Mr. Crittenden is to join Amex on June 1 from Pharmacia, an international pharmaceutical and agricultural company, where he led the integration of Pharmacia & Upjohn after their recent merger with Monsanto Co. Before the merger, he was senior vice president and chief financial officer at Monsanto.
He has also held chief financial officer posts at Sears Roebuck & Co., Melville Corp., and Filene's Basement.
-- Lisa Fickenscher
European Stock Exchange Set for July 10
LONDON -- Tradepoint Financial Networks PLC said it will launch a pan-European stock exchange July 10 to meet demand for simpler and cheaper cross-border equity trading on the continent.The exchange will offer trading in 230 continental European stocks in addition to the 2,000 U.K. equities already available through its electronic order book. The London Clearing House will be its central counterparty, and Euroclear is to supply settlement services.
The Tradepoint consortium's members are ABN Amro Holding NV, American Century, Archipelago, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank AG, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Reuters Group PLC's Instinet Corp., J.P. Morgan & Co., Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., and UBS AG's Warburg Dillon Read.
