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The Man Behind Facebook's I.P.O. DebacleThe Man Behind Facebook's I.P.O. Debacle  |  It is David Ebersman's fault, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the DealBook column. There is just no way around it.

Mr. Ebersman is Facebook's well-liked, boyish-looking 41-year-old chief financial officer. He's not as well known as Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and chief executive, or Sheryl Sandberg, its chief operating officer and recently appointed director.

But when it came to Facebook's catastrophe of an initial public offering - the stock reached a new low on Friday, closing at $18.06 - it was Mr. Ebersman, not Mr. Zuckerberg or Ms. Sandberg, who was ultimately the one pulling the strings.
DealBook '

Multinationals Stake a Claim in Venture CapitalMultinationals Stake a Claim in Venture Capital  |  New York, London and Hong Kong are common addresses for blue-chip multinationals. Now Silicon Valley is, too.

From downtown San Francisco to Palo Alto, companies like American Express and Ford are opening offices and investing millions of dollars in local start-ups. This year, American Express opened a venture capital office in Facebook's old headquarters in downtown Palo Alto. Less than three miles away, General Motors' research lab houses full-time investment professionals, recent transplants from Detroit.

“American Express is a 162-year-old company, and this is a moment of transformation,” said Harshul Sanghi, a managing partner at American Express Ventures, the venture capital arm of the financial company. “We're here to be a part of the fabric of innovation.”

The companies are raising their profiles in Silicon Valley at a shaky time for the broader venture capital industry. While top players like Andreessen Horowitz and Accel Partners have grown bigger, most venture capital firms are struggling with anemic returns.
DealBook '

DEAL NOTES

A Pivotal Week for Europe's Central Bank Leader  |  Although investors are counting on bold action when the European Central Bank meets on Thursday, analysts say Mario Draghi, the bank's president, could have a far harder time reconciling the expectations of twitchy financial markets with the limitations of his power.
DealBook '

U.S. Companies Ready if Greeks Drop Euro  |  Even as Greece desperately tries to avoid defaulting on its debt, American companies are preparing for what was once unthinkable: that Greece could soon be forced to leave the euro zone.
DealBook '

Moody's Lowers Outlook for Europe  |  Moody's Investors Service reduced its outlook for the European Union's AAA long-term credit rating, saying even the Continent's strong nations were exposed to the debt crisis.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Financial Villains Take Center Stage  |  Two new movies, “Arbitrage” and “Cosmopolis,” feature troubled financiers. Why the focus on Wall Street? David Cronenberg, the director of “Cosmopolis,” told The New York Times that financial villainy, with its ability to affect people around the globe, has a “dangerous scope.”
NEW YORK TIMES

Mergers & Acquisitions '

Valeant to Buy Maker of Dermatology Drugs  |  The Canadian drug giant Valeant Pharmaceuticals International said it had agreed to buy Medicis Pharmaceutical, which makes drugs to fight wrinkles and acne, for about $2.6 billion. The amount represents a 39 percent premium to Medicis's closing price on Aug. 31.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Ahold Weighs Sale of Stake in ICA of Sweden  |  The Dutch retailer Ahold says it is considering options fo r its 60 percent stake in the Swedish supermarket chain ICA, including selling its holding.
DealBook '

Guggenheim Said to Be Buying Dick Clark Productions  |  Guggenheim Partners has agreed to buy Dick Clark Productions for an amount that could not be determined, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter. An announcement is expected for Tuesday morning.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

American Airlines Parent to Open Books to U.S. Airways  |  AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, agreed to open up its books to US Airways Group. The non-disclosure agreement could pave the way for US Airways to buy the bankrupt airline.
DealBook '

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China Fund Said to Sell Most of BlackRock Stake  |  The China Investment Corporation, that country's sovereign wealth fund, “has sold most of its stake in BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, as part of a wider strategy by the sovereign wealth fund to cut its holdings in global financial institutions,” The Financial Times reports.
FINANCIAL TIMES

Universal's EMI Deal Said to Be Approved in Europe  |  The European Union is set to sign off on Universal's agreement to acquire EMI and sell some assets, Reuters reports, citing two unidentified people familiar with the deal.
REUTERS

Campari Picks Up Jamaican Rum Maker  |  The Italia n spirits maker Gruppo Campari has acquired 81.4 percent of Lascelles deMercado, with plans to buy the rest of the Jamaican company by the end of the year, in a deal worth $414.8 million, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Ericsson Said to Be Poised to Acquire Nokia Siemens Unit  |  Ericsson is in the lead in the process to acquire the business support systems of Nokia Siemens Networks, Dow Jones reports, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.
DOW JONES

Buyer of Saab Outlines Plans to Go Electric  |  National Electric Vehicle Sweden, which acquired Saab assets in bankruptcy, said it would introduce an electric vehicle based on Saab cars in about 18 months, Reuters reports.
REUTERS

INVESTMENT BANKING '

Nomura Reshuffles Investment Banking Unit  |  William Vereker is stepping aside as Nomura's joint head of investment banking, leaving Kentaro Okuda as chief of the unit, according to an internal memo.
DealBook '

Morgan Stanley Financial Advisers Said to Consider Leaving  |  Several dozen “rainmakers” at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, who together oversee about $47 billion in client assets, are considering leaving the firm due to “widespread technology problems” that “have made it very difficult for them to do their jobs,” according to Reuters, which cites unidentified people familiar with the matter.
REUTERS

Economic Fears Prompt Spaniards to Move Their Money  |  It's far from certain that Spain will become the next Greece, but many in Spain are moving their money, and sometimes even themselves, out of the country, The New York Times reports. In July, Spaniards withdrew about $94 billion from banks, an amount equal to 7 percent of the country's economic output.
NEW YORK TIMES

Spain O.K.'s Creation of a ‘Bad Bank'  |  The Spanish government moved on Friday to allow banks to unload troubled real estate assets and eventually receive rescue money from Europe.
NEW YORK TIMES

Letting Go of Big Banks Is Hard to Do  |  Even if sha reholders of big banks would like to see those companies broken up, bondholders may be putting up resistance, since being part of a federally insured bank means borrowing is relatively cheap, Bloomberg News writes.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Canaccord Attracts an Executive From Bank of America  |  The Canadian firm Canaccord Financial plans to hire Alexis de Rosnay, a prominent London banker who worked at Lazard before coming to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, to be the head of its European operations, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Chief of ANZ on Integrating R.B.S. Assets  |  Susan Yuen, the chief executive of the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, told The Wall Street Journal about the challenges of inte grating businesses that her firm acquired from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The ways the two companies “did things were not very similar,” she said.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Credit Cards Targeting the Wealthy  |  With the number of wealthy rising in Asia, companies like Citibank and DBS Bank - and soon, MasterCard - are offering credit cards aimed at utra-high-net-worth individuals, The New York Times writes.
NEW YORK TIMES

PRIVATE EQUITY '

Private Equity Firms Face Subpoenas on Tax Strategy  |  The New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, has subpoenaed more than a dozen firms seeking documents that would reveal whether they converted certain management f ees collected from investors into fund investments, which are taxed at a far lower rate than ordinary income, The New York Times reports.
DealBook '

Ryan Seacrest Has $300 Million to Play With  |  The “American Idol” host recently secured a $300 million private equity war chest from Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners and has been on the lookout for acquisitions, The Wall Street Journal writes.
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Goldman Sachs Plans a Foray Into Brazilian Private Equity  |  The firm is expecting returns as high as 35 percent from investing in private equity in Brazil, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

CVC Faces a Loss in Australia  |  The private equity firm CVC Capital Partners may lose 1.8 billion Australian dollars ($1.85 billion) on its investment in Nine, the Australian television network, Reuters reports. The entertainment company is at risk of triggering a breach of debt covenants that would place it under the control of its lenders.
REUTERS

Employees of Bain-Controlled Companies to Speak at Democratic Convention  |  Employees from companies managed by Bain Capital are expected to discuss private equity at the Democratic convention, according to The Huffington Post, which cites an unidentified Obama campaign official.
HUFFINGTON POST

HEDGE FUNDS '

Man Group Starts a F und to Trade Sovereign Bonds  |  The move comes as the British hedge fund giant is trying to reverse a period of disappointing returns.
REUTERS

German Bonds Present a Puzzle for Hedge Funds  |  Reuters reports: “Hedge funds are split on how to bet on German bonds, in a sign that even managers supposedly at the cutting edge of finance are struggling to work out how paper offering buyers a negative yield will fare as the euro zone's debt crisis unfolds.”
REUTERS

When the Founders Have Already Worked Together  |  Roxanne Martino, the chief executive of the hedge fund of funds firm Aurora Investment Management tells Pension & Investments magazine that the Volcker Rule has led to the “migration of full teams into our industry.”
PENSIONS & INVESTMENTS

I.P.O./OFFERINGS '

P.I.C.C. Said to Plan $3 Billion I.P.O. in Hong Kong  |  The People's Insurance Company of China may aim to raise as much as $3 billion in a Hong Kong I.P.O. in October or November and postpone a listing in Shanghai, after initially planning a dual listing in both cities, Bloomberg News reports, citing two unidentified people with knowledge of the matter.
BLOOMBERG NEWS

German Insurer Aims to Raise $882 Million  |  The I.P.O. of Talanx, the large German insurer, would be the biggest in Europe since February, according to Bloomberg News.
BLOOM BERG NEWS

Sinopec Forms a Construction Unit to Be Taken Public  |  The parent of the energy giant Sinopec has created a construction unit that is expected to have an I.P.O. in Hong Kong in 2014, state media said, according to Reuters.
REUTERS

VENTURE CAPITAL '

Start-Up Factory Produces a Grab Bag of Companies  |  Kevin Ryan, who runs the New York-based AllyCorp with Dwight Merriman, is behind an array of companies like Gilt Groupe and Business Insider. His approach to starting companies is a little like dating, The New York Times writes.
NEW YORK TIMES

Twitter Aims to Reconcile Free Speech and Profit  |  Twitter's chief lawyer says that fighting for free speech makes good business sense, but The New York Times writes that the effort “sometimes collides awkwardly with another imperative Twitter faces: to turn its fire hose of public opinion into a profitable business.”
NEW YORK TIMES

Can Square Remain Hip?  |  Excitement is building around the payments company, which just struck a deal with Starbucks. But it may be too early to anoint Square as the firm that will lead us into a cashless society.
DealBook '

Reddit Thrives on a Long Leash  |  When Conde Nast, part of Advance Publications, bought Reddit in 2006, the new owners of the social media forum decided to leave well enough alone, and the strategy has worked, David Carr writes in his column in The New York Times.
NEW YORK TIMES

LEGAL/REGULATORY '

Citibank Hid Firm's Financial Troubles, Ex-Partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf Says  |  Steven P. Otillar, who joined the law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf just months before it collapsed, said the bank had a legal obligation to disclose the firm's financial state.
DealBook '

Foreign Firms Most Affected by a U.S. Law Barring Bribes  |  A law intended to prohibit the payment of bribes to foreign officials by United States businesses has produced more than $3 billion in settlements. But the list of companies making settlements is notable for its lack of Americ an names.
DealBook '

Presidential Policy vs. Fed Policy on Jobs  |  Who actually has the most power to create jobs today â€" the president, or the Fed chairman? The answer to that question tells us whether we now live in the age of democracy, or the age of the central bank.
DealBook '

Bernanke Has His Job Cut Out  |  The New York Times editorial board writes that, given the lack of action by Congress to stimulate the economy, the Federal Reserve is “the only entity with the autonomy and the power to take action.”
NEW YORK TIMES

The Life and Death of Delaware's Arbitration Experiment  |  The f ederal court decision striking down the use of the Delaware Chancery Court for private arbitration is likely to be the end of an interesting experiment, the Deal Professor writes.
DealBook '

European Proposal Would Have More Women Join Boards  |  The New York Times reports: “Companies allocating fewer than 40 percent of seats on supervisory boards to women could face serious sanctions later this decade, according to a proposal made Monday by Viviane Reding, the European Union justice commissioner.”
NEW YORK TIMES

Drawing Lessons From a City's Bankruptcy  |  A strategy by Stockton, Calif., to sell about $125 million of bonds to close a shortfall in its pension plan, ended up backfiring, helping push the city into Chapt er 9 bankruptcy, The New York Times reports.
NEW YORK TIMES

3 Former UBS Executives Found Guilty of Rigging Bids  |  The verdict was the latest development in the Justice Department's investigation into the municipal bond market, Reuters reports.
REUTERS