Casting Call in Washington

CASTING CALL IN WASHINGTON  |  Monday night's presidential debate was supposed to be about foreign policy, but the candidates could not help talking occasionally about the domestic economy. That's probably not a bad thing. Whoever wins in November will likely have to find replacements for both Timothy F. Geithner and Ben S. Bernanke, two economic leaders whose jobs have become even more important in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the DealBook column. The Treasury secretary and the Federal Reserve chairman “are the equivalent of roles in a buddy movie,” Mr. Sorkin says.

The speculation about possible successors to Mr. Geithner has centered on some well-known names, like Erskine Bowles and Jamie Dimon, and on some that are less known in business circles, like Jacob Lew, the president's chief of staff. When it comes to the F ed, the election could have an immediate impact on investors' assumptions, Binyamin Appelbaum writes in The New York Times. Mitt Romney, for instance, has pledged to replace the Fed chairman, and the Republican candidate's views would lead people to expect a shift in strategy at the central bank.

 

YAHOO'S FUTURE DEALS  | 
Marissa Mayer is planning to take Yahoo shopping. But don't expect big purchases. Ms. Mayer said on her first earnings call as Yahoo's chief executive that she would seek out acquisitions in the range of “double-digit millions and low hundreds of millions.” Deals above $1 billion are not likely, she said. “We're looking for smaller scale acquisitions that align well over all with our businesses.” Yahoo's shares were up more than 3 percent in trading before the opening bell on Tuesday.

 

VOLCKER RULE'S VICTIMS  |  Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are already changing their businesses in anticipation of the Volcker Rule. But according to Standard & Poor's, those firms could still be hurt by a strict version of the rule, which limits proprietary trading. Certain big banks might even be downgraded. S.&P. analysts on Monday predicted a “one-in-three chance” that Goldman and Morgan would have their ratings cut.

In London, entrepreneurs are building an alternative to traditional banks, DealBook's Mark Scott writes. Some are drawing on their experience in finance or consulting to create payment companies and lenders. “Start-ups are taking advantage of London's position as a global financial center,” Adam Valkin, a partner at the European venture capital firm Accel Partners, told DealBook. “They are innovating in ways that banks just can't do.”

 

ON THE AGENDA  | 
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, known as Sifma, has its annual meeting on Tuesday at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan; speakers include Gary Gensler of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Mary L. Schapiro of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Alan Greenspan, a former Fed chairman. Apple is expected announce a smaller version of the iPad at 1 p.m. Julian Robertson, the founder of Tiger Management, is on CNBC at 4:30 p.m. Greg Smith, the former Goldman employee (and apparently financial commentator, with a new essay in Time magazine) is on CNBC at 4:40 p.m. Xerox reports earnings before the market opens, and Facebook reports after the closing bell. On Thursday, Procter & Gamble is to announce its quarterly results, with William A. Ackman pushing for changes.

 

CERBERUS EYES SUPERVALU  | 
Cerberus Capital Management has been lining up at least $4 billion in financing for a potential bid for Supervalu, the struggling supermarket company, a person briefed on the matter told DealBook. Supervalu's shares jumped nearly 45 percent after Cerberus's efforts were first reported.

 

FRANK DEFENDS JPMORGAN  | 
Jamie Dimon wasn't too happy when the government recently sued his bank over Bear Stearns, which he said he took over as a “favor.” Now, the JPMorgan Chase chief executive has an unexpected ally in Representative Barney Frank. The Massachusetts Democrat said on Monday: “The decision now to prosecute JPMorgan Chase because of activities undertaken by Bear Stearns before the takeover unfortunately fits the description of allowing no good deed to go unpunished.”

 

 

 

Mergers & Acquisitions '

Experian to Buy Rest of Brazilian Firm Serasa for $1.5 Billion  |  The credit information company Experian has agreed to buy the remaining stake in the Brazilian credit data provider Serasa it does not already own. DealBook '

 

Bidding to Begin for Residential Capital Assets  |  The Ocwen Financial Corporation and Nationstar Mortgage Holdings are both looking to buy mortgage assets from Residential Capital, and they are expected to go head-to-head this week. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

Graphics: Sales by BP, and Ranking the Top Oil Companies  |  BP began a series of dives titures in 2010 to pay for its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite paying at least $38 billion for the spill, the British energy giant remains committed to high-risk exploration in deepwater fields. From Australia to Texas, the company has been selling older, smaller assets considered to have limited growth potential. DealBook '

 

Cnooc's Deal for Nexen Still a Possibility  |  The decision to reject Petronas's $5.7 billion deal for Progress Energy Resources may not indicate that the Canadian government is adopting a harder line on mergers involving foreign companies. News Analysis '

 

Toyota Industries to Buy Cascade for $759 Million  |  Toyota Industries said on Monday that it planned to buy the Cascade Corporatio n for $759 million in cash as part of its plan to expand globally. DealBook '

 

INVESTMENT BANKING '

Report Draws Mixed Conclusion on Speedy Trading  |  A two-year British government study on high-speed trading firms rejected the accusation that the firms had caused great volatility, but the findings “confirm some of the problems with high-frequency trading that academics have pointed to in the past,” The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES

 

Examining a Claim by Greg Smith  |  The former Goldman Sachs employee Greg Smith has talked about duping “unsophisticated” clients, but Alison Frankel of Thomson Reuters points out that this issue of sophistication has bee n the subject of lengthy legal debates. THOMSON REUTERS

 

Firms Take a Hard Look at Commodities Units  |  According to The Wall Street Journal, Goldman Sachs has “held preliminary internal discussions in recent years about splitting off its lucrative commodities-trading business.” WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

A Bear Stearns Wedding  |  Justin Brannan and Leigh Holliday, who met on the 36th floor of 383 Madison Avenue, the former Bear Stearns building, returned to that fateful spot to be married on Saturday, the City Room blog writes. NEW YORK TIMES CITY ROOM

 

Low Interest Rates Weigh on Bank Profits  |  
WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

UBS Head of Special Situations Said to Depart  |  Cesar Gueikian, who ran the special situations group at UBS, is starting a hedge fund with a former colleague, Bloomberg News reports, citing three unidentified people with knowledge of the matter. BLOOMBERG NEWS

 

PRIVATE EQUITY '

Ross Eyes Spanish Bank Assets  |  Wilbur Ross said he was in talks “almost every week” with large Spanish banks, Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS

 

Buyout Bid in China Goes Hostile  |  Cathay Fortune, a Chinese private equity firm, is going directly to shareholders with its $856 million offer for Discovery Metals, after being rejected by the company's board, The Financial Times reports. FINANCIAL TIMES

 

A Target of Carlyle's Is Getting a New C.E.O.  |  The defense equipment maker Chemring Group, which is expected to draw a bid from the Carlyle Group, said its chief executive would step down, Reuters reports. REUTERS

 

Flag Capital to Acquire an Asian Investment Firm  |  The private equity firm Flag Capital Management said it had agreed to acquire Squadron Capital Advisors, a firm based in Hong Kong with about $1.5 billion under management. PRESS RELEASE  |  REUTERS

 

HEDGE FUNDS '

Farallon Capital's Founder to Step Down  |  Another hedge fund is preparing to move onto life beyond its founder, as Farallon Capital announced on Monday that its senior managing member, Thomas F. Steyer, would leave the firm at year-end. DealBook '

 

Argentine Official on ‘Vulture Funds'  |  An Argentine government official said that “vulture funds will never see Argentina kneeled down before their decisions,” apparently a reference to a struggle with Elliott Management. BUENOS AIRES HERALD

 

Greece Remains Popular With Hedge Funds  |  Firms like Third Point, Greylock Capital Management and Fir Tree Partners have been buying up Greek debt over the last few months, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

Former Credit Suisse Trader Achieves 60% Returns  |  Charlie Chan oversees a relatively small $80 million at the Splendid Asia fund, but his bets have paid off, Reuters writes. REUTERS

 

I.P.O./OFFERINGS '

Forklift Maker, Backed by Private Equity, to Go Public  |  K.K.R. and Goldman Sachs are planning an initial offering of the Kion Group in the second quarter of next year, Bloomberg News reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. BLOOMBERG NEWS

 

Japan Display Chooses Banks for 2014 I.P.O.  | 
REUTERS

 

VENTURE CAPITAL '

Outages at Amazon Data Centers Ripple to Other Sites  |  The Bits blog writes: “Some services at Amazon.com's data centers went down Monday afternoon, taking with them a number of popular Web sites and services, including Flipboard and Foursquare.” NEW YORK TIMES BITS

 

LEGAL/REGULATORY '

An Insider Trading Case That Puts 2 Defendants at Odds  |  The insider trading charges against Anthony Chiasson, a co-found er of Level Global Investors, and Todd Newman, a former portfolio manager at Diamondback Capital Management, may end up with one implicating the other as part of a defense strategy, Peter J. Henning writes in the White Collar Watch column. DealBook '

 

Candidates Debate Rise of China; China Debates Change  |  The presidential candidates debated the rise of China on Monday night, but China's next leader might wish his nation's economy were the juggernaut many Americans think it is, writes Bill Bishop in the China Insider column. DealBook '

 

Bankers Offer Criticisms of Capital Rules  |  In comment letters to regulators, bankers said proposed capital rules were too narrowly focused. WALL STREET JO URNAL

 

A.I.G. Settles Investigation Into Death Benefits  |  The American International Group agreed to pay $11 million to settle a multistate investigation into how it handled death benefits. WALL STREET JOURNAL