Libor\'s New Masters

Libor's New Masters  |  The British banking group that controls a crucial lending rate is preparing to give up that responsibility, a person with direct knowledge of the matter tells DealBook's Mark Scott.

On Friday, Martin Wheatley, managing director of Britain's Financial Services Authority, is expected to unveil the results of an investigation into the London interbank overnight rate, or Libor, after Barclays employees were accused of trying to manipulate the rate. That scandal showed the vulnerability of the rate, which affects more than $360 trillion of financial products. Going forward, tampering with Libor may be a criminal offense.

Mr. Wheatley is also expected to recommend changes in how the rate is overseen. He has hinted at possible changes to the Libor process, saying this summer that “reform may include amendments to the technical definitions used for Libor, the associated governance framework and the role of official regulation.” Another prominent regulator, Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the United States, said this week that “it is time for a new or revised benchmark.”

Tesla Brought to Earth  |  On Monday, it was all about lasers and smoke. But on Tuesday, Tesla Motors conceded it would be turning to investors and taxpayers for help.

The electric car company plans to sell five million shares to raise cash, it said in regulatory filings, adding that the federal government agreed to waive some conditions of a $465 million loan. The moves raised questions about the company's long-term viability, DealBook's Peter Eavis reports. The company is run by Elon Musk, the mogul described as “Steve Jobs, John D. Rockefeller, and Howard Hughes rolled into on e.” Yet for all the hype, Tesla is four to five months behind delivering its Model S sedans to customers.

Tesla's chief financial officer, Deepak Ahuja, said the changes to the government loan were “normal” because the company's business model had evolved. But Tesla's shares fell almost 10 percent on Tuesday, at one point triggering Nasdaq's circuit breakers, according to MarketWatch.

For a look at other young companies, The Wall Street Journal plans to release a ranking of how 50 venture capital-backed start-ups have fared over the past year.

Santander Prices Mexican I.P.O. Within Expected Range  |  The Mexican arm of Banco Santander staged one of the year's biggest initial public offerings on Tuesday, pricing the American portion of its I.P.O. at $12.18 a share, in the middle of the expected range, a person briefed on the matter told DealBook. Shares are set to beg in trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday under the ticker symbol BSMX.

Investors didn't appear too concerned by the size of the deal, or by the high degree of control that Santander will have over its Mexican subsidiary. Profit at the Mexican lender has outstripped that of its parent, rising 14.4 percent in the first half of he year.

On the Agenda  |  The head of Santander's Mexican unit, Marcos Martinez, is on CNBC at 9:50 a.m. Roger C. Altman, the former deputy Treasury secretary and current executive chairman of Evercore Partners, is on Bloomberg TV at 7:48 a.m. Phil Angelides, who was the chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, is on CNBC at 4:40 p.m.

Data on new home sales for August is out at 10 a.m., after Tuesday's home price data gave encouraging signs of a recovery. The Business Roundtable releases its quarterly CEO Economic Outlook Survey at 11 a.m., with the heads of companies giving their expectations for sales and hiring.

Wednesday is the four-year anniversary of the bankruptcy filing of Washington Mutual, the biggest bank failure in the nation's history.

The Squid and the Whale  |  A well-known diorama at New York's American Museum of Natural History became laden with irony during a charity gala this week that included employees of Goldman Sachs (derided as the vampire squid) and JPMorgan Chase (which employed a trader nicknamed the London Whale).

“I've had to sit here all night staring at a whale,” said Jes Staley, JPMorgan's investment banking chairman, according to Bloomberg News. Mr. Staley, Bloomberg reports, “then suggested the whale could be replaced with the squid in the room, which, he clarified afterward, meant Goldman Sachs.”

Goldman's president, G ary D. Cohn, who presided over the gala for the NYU Langone Medical Center's Hospital for Joint Diseases and Center for Musculoskeletal Care, replied in kind. “The only squid in the room is over there,” he said, according to the report. “I've never been so comfortable in a roomful of JPMorgan people in my life.”

Outsmarting a Hedge Fund, Canadian Style  |  It seemed like a clever trade when the American hedge fund Mason Capital Management bet against a proposed share conversion by the Telus Corporation, a Canadian telecommunications company, the Deal Professor writes. But things haven't turned out so well for Mason, which has found a shrewd opponent in Telus. Though the trade is said to be currently profitable, the hedge fund now faces the prospect of potentially losing millions.

Protests in Greece and Spain  |  The New York Times reports: “Clear signs of the political and social cost of the euro zone crisis sent financial markets tumbling Wednesday as debt-laden Greece faced a crippling 24-hour strike and Spain cleaned up after violent protests Tuesday near the country's Parliament. Spanish bond yields approached 6 percent for the first time in months, while European shares and the euro fell sharply, as developments in Greece and Spain sent a new wave of anxiety through the ranks of international investors.”

Mergers & Acquisitions '

Yahoo Seen Putting a Focus on Deals  |  Yahoo replaced its chief financial officer, who was known for cost-cutting, in a move that analysts said signaled the company was ready to expand through investments and acquisitions, The New York Times reports. The chief executive, Ma rissa Mayer, has told employees to expect “acqui-hires,” or acquisitions made for talent, The Times says.
NEW YORK TIMES

BP's Russian Partners Said to Plan to Bid for Stake in Venture  |  The Russian billionaires that own half of TNK-BP plan to make an all-cash offer by mid-October for BP's 50 percent stake, Reuters reports, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.
REUTERS

Ameriprise Said to Approach Deal for ING Unit  |  Ameriprise Financial is in advanced talks to buy most of ING's asset management business in Asia, Bloomberg News reports, citing two unidentified people with knowledge of the matter.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Woolworths Sells Dick Smith Electronics Unit  |  The sale, to Anchorage Capital Partners, was said to be worth about $5 million, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

INVESTMENT BANKING '

Attempts to Rig Libor, Shown Through Instant Messages  |  “Nice Libor,” reads one instant message from the former Royal Bank of Scotland trader Tan Chi Min that was included in a recent affidavit, Bloomberg News reports. “Our six-month fixing moved the entire fixing, hahahah.”
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Credit Suisse Said to Consider Combining Units  |  Bloomberg News reports that the Swiss bank “is considering combinin g its asset-management unit with the private and investment banking divisions, a person familiar with the matter said.”
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Bank of America Said to Plan 40 Job Cuts in Asia  | 
BLOOMBERG NEWS

The Return of Neuberger Berman  |  The asset management firm, which once was owned by Lehman Brothers, is now “pursuing the bold expansion strategy once undertaken by Lehman itself,” Fortune writes.
FORTUNE

Advice for Women on Wall Street  |  Heidi Miller, a longtime lieutenant of Jamie Dimon who retired from JPMorgan Chase in January, told The Wall Street Journal that women in finance should ask for more.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

PRIVATE EQUITY '

Time Running Out for Private Equity to Invest  |  The industry's “dry powder” that it raised at the peak of the boom typically has a five-year life span, The Wall Street Journal writes.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Onex of Canada Said to Be Near Deal for German Company  |  Onex, the Canadian buyout firm, is eyeing the purchase of KraussMaffei, a German company that makes machinery for processing plastics, from Madison Capital Partners, Bloomberg News reports, citing two unidentified people familiar with the matter.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

HEDGE FUNDS '

SAC Manager Said to Have a Role in Insider Scheme  |  Michael Steinberg, a hedge fund manager at SAC Capital Advisors, “is an unindicted co-conspirator in a $62 million insider trading scheme tied to technology stocks, two people familiar with the matter said,” according to Bloomberg News.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Morgan Stanley Veteran to Join a New Hedge Fund  |  The former European head of Morgan Stanley Investment Management is set to become the chief executive of a hedge fund being spun out of Citigroup, Financial News reports.
FINANCIAL NEWS

Hedge Funds Express Skepticism Over Fed's Plan  | 
FINANCIAL TIMES

I.P.O./OFFERINGS '

Insiders at Michael Kors Sell Shares  |  The company priced the offering at $53 a share, a discount of 2.8 percent to the shares on the market.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

The Venture-Backed I.P.O. Rankings  |  The blog peHUB uses data from Thomson Reuters to determine that Sequoia Capital was behind four companies that either went public or planned to go public since mid-May, leading its rivals.
PEHUB

Marketing Official at Hong Kong Exchange Loses Job  |  A slowdown in I.P.O.'s in Hong Kong has prompted the Hong K ong stock exchange to reorganize, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

VENTURE CAPITAL '

In Chicago, Tech Companies Flock to an Old Building  |  The New York Times writes that Chicago's Merchandise Mart, “a Depression-era behemoth of limestone, concrete and steel that has long been synonymous with fabric bolts and furniture,” is now attracting major technology companies as tenants, as the surrounding area becomes a hub for start-ups.
NEW YORK TIMES

JPMorgan Invests in Dubai E-Commerce Company  |  JPMorgan Chase and the London-based fund Blakeney Management have invested more than $20 million in Namshi, a clothing retailer in Dubai, Reuters re ports.
REUTERS

French Start-Up Valued at $800 Million  |  Criteo, a display advertising company based in Paris, raised about $40 million, AllThingsD reports.
ALLTHINGSD

LEGAL/REGULATORY '

Former Programmer Demands That Goldman Cover His Legal Fees  |  A former Goldman Sachs programmer who faces new charges of stealing computer code is demanding that the investment bank cover his mounting legal fees.
DealBook '

Germany Is Expected to Act to Curb High-Speed Trading  |  On Wednesday, Germany is expected to approve draft legislation that wo uld put additional controls on high-frequency trading, The New York Times reports.
NEW YORK TIMES

Brokerage Firm Accused of Allowing High-Speed Manipulation  |  Hold Brothers On-Line Investment Services agreed to pay $4 million in fines to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

A Tax Shelter Mitt Romney Could Love  |  Gov. Mitt Romney's 2011 tax return highlights the use of a tax planning technique that may have allowed him to avoid Medicare tax liability derived from his employment at Bain Capital, Victor Fleischer writes in the Standard Deduction column.
DealBook '

Adding Up the Government's Legal Bills for Fannie and Freddie  |  The government faces years of legal bills to defend Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives accused of misleading investors about subprime mortgages, writes Peter J. Henning in the White Collar Watch column.
DealBook '

Lehman Brothers to Pay Creditors $10.5 Billion  |  The payment represents the second leg of a plan to pay out more than $65 billion, Reuters reports.
REUTERS

Olympus and Former Executives Plead Guilty in Accounting Fraud  | 
REUTERS

Regulator Says Credit Scores Are Flawed  |  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said credi t scores purchased from reporting firms don't always give an accurate portrait of creditworthiness, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL