In the financial crisis year of 2008, Citigroup severed ties to Mexican companies that it feared could imperil its Mexican affiliate, but it seems that those efforts did not go far enough, Michael Corkery and Jessica Silver-Greenberg write in DealBook. A $400 million fraud at Citigroup’s Banamex unit that was discovered last month highlights the limitations of that kind of culling, and underscores the challenges of finding solid lending clients in a country where the line between big business and political cronyism can become blurred.
But the bank’s troubles go beyond the $400 million fraud, which involved an oil services company, OceanografÃa. Last year, Banamex officials faced a setback when roughly $300 million in loans to a handful of Mexican home builders suddenly soured. The latest difficulties have called attention to the longtime leadership of Citigroup’s Mexico chairman, Manuel Medina-Mora, and raised questions about oversight at Banamex as it reported seemingly superior returns.
Mr. Corkery and Ms. Silver-Greenberg write: “Citigroup officials have largely blamed recent problems at Banamex on a combination of bad luck and bad actors. But a closer look at Banamex’s lending business reveals potentially more systemic challenges: The bank has been placing large bets on a few risky corporate borrowers.â€
IN MEN’S WEARHOUSE DEAL, ITS FOUNDER IS MISSING  | Men’s Wearhouse agreed on Tuesday to purchase its rival, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, for $65 a share, ending a monthslong takeover battle that at times seemed as if it would never end. The deal values Jos. A. Bank at $1.8 billion and unites two leaders in affordable menswear, David Gelles writes in DealBook.
The announcement was particularly notable for what it lacked: any mention of the founder of Men’s Wearhouse, George Zimmer. Indeed, Mr. Zimmer has been almost entirely absent from the takeover battle of the last six months, the result of a boardroom dispute that led the company to fire him as chairman last June. But, perhaps inadvertently, the move piqued the interest of investment bankers, who suggested that their client, Jos. A. Bank, bid for Men’s Wearhouse, setting off what would become tiresome months of bids, counterbids, lawsuits and invective.
The agreed offer is 56 percent above the share price of Jos. A. Bank before it made its first move last year. Among the terms of the deal, Jos. A. Bank will terminate an agreement to acquire Eddie Bauer. The combined company expects to be the fourth-largest men’s apparel retailer in the United States, with annual revenue of about $3.5 billion. Improved purchasing power, lower overhead, and more efficient marketing and customer service should also save at least $100 million a year, the companies said.
SAC CAPITAL RENAMES ITSELF POINT72  | Steven A. Cohen’s hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, long embroiled in scandal, is getting a new name: Point72 Asset Management, Matthew Goldstein writes in DealBook. The name, which was announced on Tuesday in a letter to employees, makes no reference to the billionaire investor, but does seem to be inspired by the address for SAC’s enormous office at 72 Cummings Point Road in Stamford, Conn. The new name will become official on April 7.
The hedge fund’s announcement ends months of speculation about what Mr. Cohen would call his family office, which will manage mostly his own money in the aftermath of SAC’s guilty plea in November and its agreement to pay a penalty of $1.2 billion. Mr. Cohen and Tom Conheeney, SAC’s president, have also outlined a plan to streamline SAC’s operations and reduce the number of distinct portfolios it operates.
ON THE AGENDA  | The Mortgage Bankers’ Association purchase applications index is out at 7 a.m. The Treasury budget report for February is released at 2 p.m. OPEC publishes its monthly oil market report. The Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing at 10 a.m. on coordinating Hurricane Sandy recovery and a hearing at 2:30 p.m. on retirement security for the middle class. The House Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Trade holds a hearing at 10 a.m. on the Federal Reserve’s role in credit allocation. Neel Kashkari, who oversaw the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program and is running for governor of California, is on CNBC at 7 p.m. The World Wide Web celebrates its 25th anniversary.
HERBALIFE SHARES SINK ON NEW ACCUSATIONS  | William A. Ackman expanded his campaign against the nutritional supplements company Herbalife, accusing it on Tuesday of “operating illegally†in China during a conference call that lasted more than two hours. Mr. Ackman, the billionaire founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, argued that Herbalife’s Chinese operations were identical to its business in other countries like the United States and Mexico, Alexandra Stevenson writes in DealBook. The company’s shares were hurt by the new accusations, falling more than 2 percent before recovering slightly to close down 1.1 percent for the day.
Mr. Ackman is sitting on $500 million of paper losses on his bet, and would profit only if the company’s stock spiraled downward. Ms. Stevenson writes: “During the call, Mr. Ackman remained steadfast in his conviction, saying, ‘There is no circumstance under which we are wrong,’ while poking fun at the company.â€
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Shares Rise Even Before Alibaba Makes Deal  | Shares in a Hong Kong media group began to rally well before the announcement that Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, had struck an $800 million agreement to buy control of the company. DealBook »
Vornado Considering Spinning Off Suburban Shopping Centers  | The commercial real estate landlord Vornado Realty Trust is exploring spinning off its suburban shopping centers into a separate company, which would then merge with the Retail Opportunity Investments Corporation, a company on the West Coast, The Wall Street Journal writes. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Disney in Talks to Acquire Online Video Producer Maker Studios  | The Walt Disney Company is in talks to buy Maker Studios, which develops and publishes YouTube videos, in a deal that would value the company at $500 million or more, ReCode reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. If the deal goes through, it would be the biggest bet by a traditional media company on a company built on YouTube. RECODE
Wave of Deals for European Telecoms  | Telecommunications companies across Europe are rushing to acquire smaller operations in individual countries, which could result in a reshaping of the Continent’s telecommunications landscape, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Moelis to Open Brazil Office  | The investment bank Moelis & Company, which is planning an initial public offering, said it would open an office in São Paulo, Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Houlihan Lokey to Buy ArchPoint Partners  | The investment bank Houlihan Lokey has agreed to purchase its smaller rival ArchPoint Partners in a push to win more work in technology mergers and acquisitions, The Wall Street Journal writes. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Deutsche Bank Latin America Trading Chief Departs  | Deutsche Bank has announced that Christian Binaghi, who oversaw the bank’s Latin America trading, has left the firm, Bloomberg News writes. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Chobani Is Said to Seek Investment That Would Value It at $5 Billion  | Chobani, the fast-growing yogurt maker, is said to be in talks with six potential investors as it seeks more capital to expand internationally. DealBook »
Blackstone to Acquire Cybersecurity Firm Accuvant  | The private equity firm Blackstone Group announced on Tuesday that it had agreed to buy a majority stake in Accuvant, which offers cybersecurity software and consulting services to companies and governments. DealBook »
Questions Arise About Golden Gate’s Plans for Eddie Bauer  | Last month, Jos. A. Bank agreed to buy the retailer Eddie Bauer from the private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for about $825 million in cash and stock. But on Tuesday, Men’s Wearhouse announced it would buy Jos. A. Bank, leaving Eddie Bauer with a broken deal and raising questions about Golden Gate’s plans for the retailer, Fortune reports. FORTUNE
Demand Stronger Than Expected for Puerto Rico Debt  | The commonwealth sold $3.5 billion of debt â€" more than it originally planned â€" at an 8.72 percent yield. DealBook »
Hedge Fund Founder Says He Cannot Afford Record Fine  | Alberto Micalizzi, an Italian academic who founded the $550 million hedge fund Dynamic Decisions, said he could not afford the record fine of 3 million pounds imposed by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority for misleading investors, The Financial Times reports. FINANCIAL TIMES
Mixed Results for 2 British Retailers in Trading Debuts  | In their first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Poundland, a discount retailer that sells everything for one pound or less, rose 20 percent, while Pets at Home fell slightly. DealBook »
China’s Harbin Bank to Gauge Interest for $1 Billion I.P.O.  | China’s Harbin Bank plans to begin testing investor interest for its Hong Kong initial public offering, The Wall Street Journal writes. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Pizza Company Plans $70 Million I.P.O.  | Papa Murphy’s Holdings, a pizza chain based in Washington State and backed by the private equity firm Lee Equity Partners, is planning to raise as much as $70 million in its initial public offering, The Seattle Times writes. SEATTLE TIMES
Castlight Raises I.P.O. Range  | Castlight Health has raised the anticipated range of its initial public offering, another sign that the I.P.O. market is particularly hot, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Will the Real Satoshi Nakamoto Please Stand Up? Â |Â Particularly in Japan, those named Satoshi Nakamoto have been garnering a lot of attention as the search continues for the creator of Bitcoin. DEALBOOK
A Turnaround for Bitcoin at SXSW  | For Bitcoin entrepreneurs, the rise from scrappy outsiders to tech world insiders has been a bit dizzying. DealBook »
Bitcoin Foundation Bolsters Its Ranks  | Jim Harper of the Cato Institute will act as government liaison, as regulators struggle with how to oversee the evolving world of digital currency. DealBook »
Google Leaders Weigh In on the Future of Internet Freedom  | Eric E. Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, and Jared Cohen, the director of Google Ideas, write in a New York Times opinion article that we have the technology to defeat Internet censorship, but question whether we have the will. NEW YORK TIMES
Social Justice Activist Heads to Silicon Valley  | Benjamin T. Jealous, a former president of the N.A.A.C.P. who led the civil rights organization through a tumultuous period, will join a venture capital firm in Oakland, Calif., that is dedicated to socially conscious investing, SFGate reports. SFGATE
Money Transfer Start-Up WorldRemit Raises $40 Million  | WorldRemit, a start-up based in London that is working to create a better solution for transferring money, has secured a $40 million investment from the venture capital firm Accel Partners, TechCrunch writes. The investment is the first for WorldRemit and one of the largest Series A funding rounds secured in Europe. TECHCRUNCH
New York Seeks Plans for Virtual Exchanges  | Benjamin M. Lawsky, the superintendent of New York State’s Department of Financial Services, issued his first public order on virtual currencies like Bitcoin, calling for proposals for creating regulated exchanges. DealBook »
Inquiries to Change Dynamics of Currency Trading  | The heightened sensitivity about fairness to clients will probably see even more foreign exchange business being done on electronic trading platforms, Swaha Pattanaik of Reuters Breakingviews contends. DealBook »
Bank of England Governor Pledges More Integrity After Currency Inquiry  | Mark J. Carney, the Bank of England’s governor, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the central bank has adopted stricter policies. Next week, the Bank of England will also outline plans to revamp its organization. DealBook »
G.M. Said to Face Criminal Inquiry on Safety Problems  | The Justice Department is looking into the decade-long failure by General Motors to address deadly problems that resulted in a huge recall, according to a person briefed on the matter, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
Senators Draft Housing Finance Overhaul  | The plan, from the Democratic chairman and top Republican on the Banking Committee, will seek to make future taxpayer bailouts less likely, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
