Morning Take-Out

TOP STORIES

Barclays Taps an Insider to Repair Its Reputation  |  Barclays, which has been tarnished by scandal, appointed a new chief executive on Thursday, as the British bank looks to restore its reputation and overhaul its culture.

By selecting Antony Jenkins, Barclays seemed to steal a line from the comedy series “Monty Python”: “And now for something completely different.”

Mr. Jenkins, 51, an Oxford-educated Briton with a soft-spoken demeanor, started his career 30 years ago as a cashier at a local Barclays branch. Over the last three years, he has overseen the sleepy consumer retail and banking business at Barcl ays.

In short, he has little in common with his predecessor, Robert E. Diamond. Mr. Diamond, an American-born investment banker, brought a hard-charging ethos to the bank, transforming it into a top player on Wall Street. But the culture of risk-taking also proved problematic. In July, Mr. Diamond resigned amid revelations that Barclays manipulated key interest rates for its own benefit.
DealBook '

Romney Campaign Puts a Focus on Bain  |  Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital continues to be a focus - some might say the focus - of both his supporters and detractors.

Just hours before Mr. Romney's speech Thursday night at the Republican National Convention, his campaign started a Web site - business.mittromney.com - devoted almost entirely on his years at the investment firm Bain Capital. “Governor Romney's work at Bain Capital was about fixing companies that were broken and giving new companies a shot at success,” reads the Web site's home page.

The site features nine one- to two-minute videos, each highlighting a successful Bain deal. Two videos focus on the office-supplies retailer Staples, one of Mr. Romney's most successful investments during his tenure at Bain. Both show Mr. Romney roaming the aisles at a Staples store wearing that a blue dress shirt with a contrasting white collar, a de rigueur uniform of 1980s Wall Street.
DealBook '

DEAL NOTES

All Eyes on Bernanke  |  The Wall Street Journal's Jon Hilsenrath previews the speech on Friday by Ben Bernanke in Jackson Hole. Mr. Hilsenrath writes of the Fed chairman: “Long after his term as chairman e nds in 17 months, will he be remembered as the Fed chief who did too little to combat high unemployment or the one who did too much and unleashed inflation and financial instability with the actions he took? Critics make both arguments.”
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Sears Is Dropped From S&P 500  |  Sears Holdings, which has been a member of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index for more than 50 years, is getting kicked out, amid concerns about the number of shares held by public investors and an upcoming rights issue, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Fallen Tycoon in Ireland Faces a Reckoning  |  Sean Quinn, a former billionaire who has became an emblem of Ireland's economic collapse, faces an investigatio n into his assets and must turn over information by Friday, The New York Times reports. He has been waging what he calls a “public relations war.”
NEW YORK TIMES

Mergers & Acquisitions '

Tata Motors Puts Jaguar Land Rover Back on Its Feet  |  It's a success story that has stunned analysts: After buying Jaguar Land Rover from Ford Motor for $2.3 billion in June 2008, the Indian auto company Tata Motors is racking up sales and preparing to release a new roadster, The New York Times reports.
NEW YORK TIMES

Qatar Fund Voices Opposition to Terms of Xstrata Takeover  |  In its second public statement since Glencore announced plans to acquire Xstrata, Qatar Holding said it had “determined that it will not support the proposed merger,” but added that it “continues to support the principle of a combination.”
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Activist Fund Challenges Xstrata's Board  |  Knight Vinke, an Xstrata shareholder, said it would consider pushing for changes in the mining company's board if the proposed takeover by Glencore fails, Reuters reports.
REUTERS

Antitrust Group Raises Concerns Over Universal-EMI Deal  |  The American Antitrust Institute, a group that has been profiled by DealBook, urged regulators to stop Universal Music's plan to acquire EMI's recorded music unit, saying the tie-up would give Universal too much power, Reuters reports.
REUTE RS

Bankers Vie for a Piece of AIA Deal  |  A.I.G. will be free next week to sell a $7.6 billion stake in its former unit AIA, in what could be one of Asia's biggest deals of the year, Reuters reports.
REUTERS

Guggenheim Closes In on Dick Clark Productions  |  The Los Angeles Times reports: “Fresh from spending over $2 billion to become majority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Guggenheim Partners now appears to be the leading candidate to land Dick Clark Productions - for a price tag of close to $400 million, people close to the situation said.”
LOS ANGELES TIMES

INVESTMENT BANKING '

JPMorgan Sai d to Weigh Reducing Business With Brokerages  |  The Wall Street Journal reports that JPMorgan “is reviewing its dealings with dozens of brokerages that use the bank to settle trades, according to people familiar with the bank.” The review, which began more than six months ago, gained increased urgency in the aftermath of Knight Capital's trading debacle.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Struggling Gleacher & Co. Explores a Sale  |  Gleacher & Company, the struggling investment bank started by the longtime Wall Street deal maker Eric Gleacher, said that it was exploring strategic alternatives, including selling itself and raising money from outside investors.
DealBook '

Nomura Targets $1 Billion in Cuts  |  Nomura has outlined a plan to cut from businesses that include investment banking and equities, shedding jobs mainly at units outside Japan, Bloomberg News reports, citing two unidentified people with knowledge of the matter.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

How Deals Are Done in Italy  |  A secret meeting in May with a top Italian deal maker has been held up as “proof that Italian capitalism remains underpinned by a system of cronyism that the government of Prime Minister Mario Monti blames for smothering the nation's economy,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

< p>Credit Suisse Hires Head of Canada Metals and Mining Unit  |  Credit Suisse has hired Matthew Hind as the head of its Canada metals and mining business in its investment banking department, the firm announced in an internal memorandum reviewed by DealBook.
DealBook '

Morgan Stanley Officials in Russia to Depart  |  The chairman of Morgan Stanley's Russian operations, Rair Simonyan, who worked on the I.P.O. of Rosneft, and the regional president, are leaving the company, Reuters reports.
REUTERS

PRIVATE EQUITY '

A Credit Crunch That Never Materialized  |  In a market commentary note, the Carlyle Group writ es that a large volume of maturing speculative-grade credit has not produced a “financial doomsday,” adding that “common assumptions about refinancing risk may be misplaced.”
CARLYLE GROUP

Carlyle Secures $700 Million From Insiders for Fund  |  Carlyle Group executives committed their own money to a fund that is aiming to raise $10 billion, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Uncertain Times for a Company Owned by Apollo  |  Affinion Group Holdings, a company owed by Apollo Global Management, faces the possibility of default, with less than a year to pay back $2.3 billion of debt, and earnings that are expected to decline, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

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British Homebuilding Firm Receives Takeover Offer  |  Redrow is valued at 562 million pounds ($889 million) in a buyout offer by its chairman and three investment funds, Reuters reports.
REUTERS