ING Group to Sell Stake in Capital One  | The Dutch financial services giant ING Group plans to sell its 9 percent stake in Capital One in a deal that could be worth around $3 billion.
ING acquired the stake in the American firm when Capital One bought ING Direct USA for $9 billion in February.
The Dutch firm said late on Tuesday that it would sell 54 million shares in Capital One, and would set the price before the start of trading in New York on Wednesday. Based on the closing share price on Tuesday, ING's stake in Capital One is worth around $3 billion.
The move to sell the shares comes as ING has been forced to sell assets as part of the conditions of a 10 billion euro ($12.5 billion) bailout it received from its local government in 2008.
DealBook '
With Lax Regulation, a Risky Industry Flourishes Offshore  | The hedge fund industry has been rushing headlong to open Bermuda-based reinsurers, writes Steven M. Davidoff, DealBook's Deal Professor.
Reinsurance, already something of a murky business, may become even more complicated as a result. And while the hedge funds are likely to profit, the question is: Who's watching to make sure this doesn't lead to another financial calamity?
DealBook '
Europe's Central Banker Discusses a Plan to Buy Bonds  | In a close d-door meeting this week, Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, “made clear his plans to buy short-term government bonds on secondary markets, lawmakers who were present said,†according to The New York Times. The comments appeared to set the stage for the central bank's announcement this week.
NEW YORK TIMES
Banking Group Gets in the Super PAC Game  | The American Bankers Association, an industry group, is planning to raise several million dollars in the next few weeks for a fund to allow members to contribute anonymously to Senate campaigns, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
When an Insider Trader Is in the Family  | Stuart J. Boesky, the chief executive of Pembrook Capital Management, a n adviser and fund manager focused on debt, spoke with The New York Times about his business. He also happens to be the first cousin of Ivan F. Boesky, the convicted insider trader from the 1980s. “Here's a guy that never helped me, but the association is not all that helpful,†Stuart Boesky said.
NEW YORK TIMES
3M and Avery Dennison ‘Committed' to Deal Despite Antitrust Issue  | After the Justice Department balked at 3M's $550 million acquisition of Avery Dennison, the companies said they would seek to appease antitrust concerns.
DealBook '
Valeant Sticks to Torrid Pace of Deal-Making  | The $2.6 billion acquisition of Medicis Pha rmaceutical is the 11th deal this year for the Montreal-based Valeant, which merged with Biovail of Canada in 2010.
DealBook '
Dick Clark Productions Sold to Guggenheim Partners  | Dick Clark Productions, the company that produces the Golden Globe Awards show and the New Year's Eve broadcast, was sold to Guggenheim Partners and a pair of multimedia investors.
DealBook '
European Soft Drink Makers in Merger Talks  | Britvic, a British soft drink maker, said it was in talks with A.G. Barr, a Scottish company that makes the popular Irn-Bru drink, for a possible all-share merger, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
Mexican Bank Considers Buying Assets From BBVA Â |Â The Mexican lender Grupo Financiero Banorte said it was eyeing the Latin American pension and retirement businesses of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, a Spanish rival, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Chinese Bank Takes an Aggressive Stance in Asia  | China Development Bank, which traditionally has lent to state-run companies, has begun doing private deals and is willing to offer big, long-term loans, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unidentified bankers.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Deutsche Bank Said to Plan Cuts in Asia  | The German lender is shedding about 85 jobs at its equities units in Japan and Hong Kong, Bloomberg News reports, citing two unidentified people with knowledge of the matter.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Confessions of a Barclays Intern  | An unidentified summer intern at Barclays tells New York magazine about working at a bank that was tainted by scandal: “No one felt morally responsible. The first concern on everyone's mind was, Is this going to affect my pay in two weeks? And the answer we got from management was a firm no.â€
NEW YORK
Pimco's Total Return Fund Attracts $1.3 Billion in A ugust  | The giant mutual fund had its eighth straight month of net deposits, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Small Companies in Britain Cut Back on Borrowing  | A survey showed that small and medium-sized business in Britain had a limited appetite for financing, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
Blackstone's Real Estate Fund Confronts the Challenges of Size  | With a $13.3 billion war chest, Blackstone Real Estate is looking for buyers for more than 40 previous investments while also deciding how to commit the fresh capital, Bloomberg News writes.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
What's at Issue in the Private Equity Tax Inquiry  | The New York attorney general's office is said to be investigating private equity firms' use of a tax strategy known as management fee waiver programs - programs that might not hold up if challenged in court, writes Victor Fleischer, the tax columnist for DealBook.
DealBook '
Mexico Becomes a Private Equity Destination  | It may not be as well-known a market as Brazil, but Mexico is attracting the interest of buyout firms, The Wall Street Journal reports. Private equity investment in the country grew to $228 million during the first half of the year, compared with $84 million the year earlier.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Buyouts of Chinese Companies Take Time  | A proposed buyout of Focus Media, which would be the biggest ever in China, shows how “investors aren't quick to jump to the buyout route,†even when stock prices are depressed, The Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Street column writes.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Morgan Stanley Invests in Chinese Renewable Energy  | The infrastructure arm of Morgan Stanley, along with two Asian private equity firms, have invested a total of $300 million in Zhaoheng Hydropower, a company that generates power from water, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Greenlight Capital Rises 4.2% in August  | David Einhorn's firm benefited in August from a jump in the stock price of Coventry Health Care, Reuters reports. For the year so far, the hedge fund is up 10.9 percent, according to Reuters, which cites two unidentified people familiar with the results.
REUTERS
Magnetar's Triathlete Co-Founder  | Alec Litowitz, the chief executive and head of equities at Magnetar Capital, trained for the Ironman World Championship before helping start his hedge fund, AR Magazine writes in its cover story. “In some ways, the triathlon may have been the perfect preparation for the battles Litowitz has faced in building Magnetar,†the magazine says.
AR MAGAZINE
Swedish Firm to Require a Longer Commitment From Investors  | Brummer & Partners, a firm based in Stockholm, is starting a hedge fund that will require investors to lock up their money for a minimum of a year, or even three, in an effort to guard against withdrawals that can come in a volatile environment, The Financial Times reports.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Hartford Financial Agrees to Sell a Division  | The insurer, which is under pressure from John A. Paulson, agreed to sell a retirement-plans unit for $400 million, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Facebook Moves to Aid Its Shares  | Facebook has announced what amounts to a repurchase of several million shares, adding that its largest sha reholder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, would not sell his shares or options for at least another year. The move appears aimed at instilling confidence into Wall Street.
DealBook '
Who Is to Blame for Facebook's I.P.O.? A Mix of Responses  | The DealBook column on Tuesday, which pinned the blame of Facebook's mess of an initial public offering on its chief financial officer, David Ebersman, has provoked a wide range of reactions among the online financial commentariat.
DealBook '
Hudson's Bay Said to Consider Selling Shares to the Public  | Hudson's Bay, a retailer that traces its roots to 1670, may aim to raise about $507 million in October or November through a Toronto I.P.O. of its Canadian and United States sto res, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Santander Seeks $4.2 Billion I.P.O. of Its Mexican Unit  | The bank's listing would be one of the largest initial public offerings ever in Mexico, and comes as the country's economy continues to grow on the back of strong local demand.
DealBook '
MegaFon of Russia Plans a $4 Billion I.P.O. Â |Â The Russian mobile phone company MegaFon is seeking regulatory permission for an I.P.O. in London that could be worth as much as $4 billion, Reuters reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
REUTERS
Hong Kong Los es Its I.P.O. Crown  | Hong Kong was recently the world's top I.P.O. destination, but this year the value of new listings there has dropped 77 percent compared with the period last year, according to a report from Haitong Securities, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Telefonica Steps Up Its Venture Capital Presence  | The Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica, which already backs some start-ups, said it would invest 68 million euros ($86 million) in venture capital funds as it looks to expand its digital division with new technology, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
Legality of a Taxi-Hailing App Is Questioned in New York
NEW YORK TIMES
Education Technology Company Raises $80 Million  | Desire2Learn, an Ontario-based company that offers systems to facilitate online education, said it raised a financing round from New Enterprise Associates and the venture capital arm of a Canadian pension fund, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
Banks Face Suits as States Weigh Libor Losses  | A number of states, including North Car olina, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut, are working to build a case for suing the nation's largest banks in connection with the recent rate-rigging scandal involving the London interbank offered rate, or Libor.
DealBook '
In UBS Convictions, Parallels to the Libor Investigation  | A case against the three former UBS executives who were convicted last week has a number of interesting parallels to the Libor investigation, and can provide the framework for cases that might emerge, Peter J. Henning writes in the White Collar Watch column.
DealBook '
Finra Executive Departs for Wilmer Hale  | The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said its vice chairman, Stephen Luparello, was leaving to join the law fir m Wilmer Hale in Washington.
DealBook '
Lawyer for Banks Has Sway in Washington  | Annette Nazareth, a former official of the Securities and Exchange Commission who now represents Wall Street firms as a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell, played a key role in the negotiations over the Dodd-Frank Act, becoming “the preeminent legal advocate for financial services firms as they sought to scale back the new rules,†Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
S.E.C. Accuses Chinese Firm of Falsifying Earnings  | The Securities and Exchange Commission took a rare action against China Sky One Medical, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
REUTERS
Lehman Looks to Sell Some Assets for Pennies on the Dollar  | in Detroit, Lehman Brothers Holdings offered to sell an office property at a price that would recover less than 10 percent of what it paid, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
British Banking Official Is Dead at 69 Â |Â Andrew Crockett, a former head of the Bank for International Settlements and executive director of the Bank of England, died on Monday at his home in California, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
