JUNIOR BANKERS STILL WORK LONG HOURS Â |Â In the last six months, many of the biggest investment banks have signaled a sea change in their corporate culture, telling their most junior employees to ease up a bit on their hard-charging work schedules and take a few weekend days off. But like other practices on Wall Street, the more things change, the more they stay the same, William Alden and Sydney Ember write in DealBook.
A number of junior bankers, known as analysts and associates, say that, while the new policies allow them to enjoy their Saturdays, their overall workload has not changed noticeably. It only gets pushed to a different day. “If you have 80 hours of work to do in a week, you’re going to have 80 hours of work to do in a week, regardless of whether you’re working Saturdays or not,†one junior banker said. “It’s well intentioned,†he added, “but I don’t know if it’s actually practical.â€
The policies, driven in part by fears across the industry that college graduates are now more attracted to jobs in Silicon Valley than in finance, are still in their early days, but some bankers are skeptical. With Saturday designated a day of rest at some banks, several bankers said that other days, including Sunday, have become more intense. “I don’t know if my life improved at all,†one Barclays analyst said.
OFFERS FOR DETROIT’S ART  | City and state officials in Detroit are pushing to keep Detroit’s bankruptcy moving forward toward resolution, but a bond insurer threw an obstacle onto the road on Wednesday in the form of four rival offers for the treasures in the city’s art museum, Mary Williams Walsh writes in DealBook. Each of the four “expressions of interest†holds out the possibility that Detroit could obtain more money for its art than it could through a deal it has already been putting together, which would transfer the art collection to a new nonprofit owner to shield it from the bankruptcy proceedings.
The nonbinding proposals range as high as $2 billion, including a loan for that amount from a specialized firm that would use the art collection as collateral. Other parties have proposed buying the art collection, or parts of it. By contrast, Detroit’s preferred art deal would provide $816 million from philanthropic groups; benefactors of the Detroit Institute of Arts, where the collection is held; and the state. In addition to shielding the art from a possible sale, the money would be used to help pay pensions to Detroit’s retired city workers.
Detroit’s creditors are seeking to maximize the amount of cash available to pay their claims, and the Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, one of the city’s many creditors, has asked Detroit’s bankruptcy judge, Steven Rhodes, to order the city to either let the four prospective bidders evaluate the art or else allow it to explore its own alternatives for using the works to raise more money.
GOODBYE, ALLY  | The Treasury Department on Wednesday took its latest step toward disposing of its holdings in the once-embattled lender Ally Financial by selling a 20 percent stake in the company via its initial public offering, Michael J. de la Merced writes in DealBook. The firm, once General Motors’ financing arm, is the government’s last remaining holding from its enormous bailouts of the financial and auto industries.
The stock sale, which will finally bring Ally to the public markets, will raise about $2.4 billion for the government. As of Wednesday evening, taxpayers will have made a slight profit on the $17.2 billion in total investments they have poured into the company. Ally’s underwriters priced the offering at $25 a share, the low end of an expected range. It values the lender at about $12 billion. The lender must now prove that its current business model, providing both online banking and auto financing, can withstand future turmoil.
ON THE AGENDA  | Weekly jobless claims are out at 8:30 a.m. Charles L. Evans, president of the Chicago Fed, sits on a panel at 11:50 a.m. in Washington to discuss central banking after the recession. The House Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises holds a hearing entitled “Legislative Proposals to Enhance Capital Formation for Small and Emerging Growth Companies.†Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank, is on Bloomberg TV at 2 p.m. Steven A. Cohen’s hedge fund, SAC Capital Advisors, is bracing for its reckoning as Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York decides whether to accept the old SAC’s guilty plea and its deal with prosecutors to pay a $1.2 billion penalty. The hearing begins at 10:30 a.m.
P&G SLIMS DOWN  | “Since A. G. Lafley returned last year for a second stint as chief executive of Procter & Gamble, investors have been waiting for him to make a big move,†David Gelles writes in DealBook. On Wednesday, they got a small but significant first step.
Mr. Lafley was brought in after Robert A. McDonald, his successor, and now predecessor, was ousted by a board under pressure from the activist investor William A. Ackman, who had called for Procter & Gamble to shed some of its many consumer brands. Mr. Lafley set about addressing Mr. Ackman’s criticisms on Wednesday, agreeing to sell most of Procter & Gamble’s pet foods brands â€" including Iams and Eukanuba â€" to Mars, best known as a candy maker, for $2.9 billion in cash.
Alibaba’s Deal-Making Raises a Red Flag  | The e-commerce company is lending one of its founders $1 billion to invest in a digital TV company. The three-way deal offers a glimpse of the way company insiders mix public and private interests, John Foley of Reuters Breakingviews writes.
DealBook »
Senate Panel Expresses Caution on Merger of Cable Giants  | The judiciary panel expressed concern over higher costs for consumers if a merger with Time Warner Cable were approved, but a Comcast executive played down the likelihood, The New York Times reports.
NEW YORK TIMES
Piramal to Sell Vodafone India Stake for $1.48 Billion  | Piramal Enterprises, the largest minority investor in Vodafone India, has agreed to sell its stake in the telecommunications provider as part of a bid by Vodafone to take full control of the unit.
DealBook »
RLM Finsbury Names New President  | RLM Finsbury, a strategic communications firm, said on Thursday that Stephen Labaton would become its United States president.
DealBook »
Latin American E-Commerce Giant to Acquire 2 Real Estate Sites  | MercadoLibre, based in Buenos Aires and traded on the Nasdaq, will pay about $40 million for VMK, a holding company that owns two prominent real estate websites in Latin America.
DealBook »
Jamie Dimon Writes of ‘Nerve-Racking’ 2013  | “We came through it scarred but strengthened,†the JPMorgan chief executive says in his annual letter to shareholders.
DealBook »
El Pollo Loco Selects Banks for I.P.O. Â |Â El Pollo Loco, the fast food chicken chain owned by the private equity firms Trimaran Capital Partners and Freeman Spogli, has picked the investment banks Jefferies Group and Morgan Stanley to lead an initial public offering for later this year, Reuters reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.
REUTERS
Greece Dives Back Into the Bond Market  | The plan to sell the first long-term bonds in four years is a symbolic turnaround for Greece, even if legions of jobless Greeks are not cheering, The New York Times writes.
NEW YORK TIMES
Former S.E.C. Official to Join K.K.R. as Compliance Chief  | Bruce Karpati, a former Securities and Exchange Commission official, is joining the giant private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company as its chief compliance officer.
DealBook »
Wall Street’s ‘Rental-Backed Securities’ May Be the New Swindle  | Over the last few years, private equity firms have been buying up homes across the country with plans to rent the houses back to families. “But it wouldn’t be Wall Street not to have a short-term trick up its sleeve, so the private equity firms are partnering with big banks to bundle the mortgages on these rental homes into a new financial product known as ‘rental-backed securities,’†Laura Gottesdiener writes in Salon.
SALON
Cerberus Decides Not to Sell Shares in Seibu I.P.O. Â |Â The private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management has chosen not to sell shares in the initial public offering of Seibu Holdings, a Japanese railroad and hotel company, The Wall Street Journal reports. The decision suggests that the often tense relationship between the Japanese company and Cerberus will continue.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Sotheby’s Responds to Loeb, With Visual Aids  | Sotheby’s filed a presentation with the Securities and Exchange Commission that defends its board and attacks the record of the activist investor Daniel S. Loeb.
DealBook »
Hedge Funds Gamble on Puerto Rico Debt  | Despite Puerto Rico’s financial trouble, several large hedge funds â€" including Och-Ziff Capital Management, Fir Tree Partners, Perry Capital and Brigade Capital Management â€" each purchased more than $100 million of Puerto Rico bonds sold last month, according to a list of buyers of the $3.5 billion deal, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Hedge Fund Begins Campaign to Undercut Energy Regulator  | Powhatan Energy Fund, a small Pennsylvania hedge fund, has started a public campaign to stop Norman C. Bay, who leads enforcement for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, from being confirmed as the next chairman of the commission, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.
BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK
Go Daddy Said to Pick Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan for I.P.O.  | The Internet registrar has hired the two banks to coordinate its initial public offering, though it isn’t clear yet how much money the company plans to raise in an I.P.O.
DealBook »
China Pork Company’s Listing Could Raise More Than $5 Billion  | WH Group, which is the new name for the combined businesses of China’s Shuanghui International, is planning an I.P.O. with the potential to be the biggest in a year.
DealBook »
La Quinta Shares Little Changed on Debut  | Shares of La Quinta, the hotel chain backed by the Blackstone Group, ended the day just slightly above their offering price.
DealBook »
Pet Food Company Freshpet Prepares for I.P.O. Â |Â Freshpet, a premium pet food maker, has selected Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse to lead an initial public offering by the end of the year, Reuters reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.
REUTERS
Question-and-Answer Site Quora Raises $80 Million  | Quora, a site that specializes in posting questions and answers from users, has raised $80 million from Tiger Global Management and four existing Quora investors.
DealBook »
Users’ Stark Reminder: As Web Grows, It Grows Less Secure  | The bug known as Heartbleed illustrates that the Internet is still in its youth, and vulnerable to all sorts of unseen dangers, including simple human error, Farhad Manjoo writes in the State of the Art column.
NEW YORK TIMES
How a Start-Up Can Compete With the Big Boys for Talent  | Strategies for companies that can’t afford big salaries and bonuses, in-house chefs, trips to inspiring conferences or an office with floors connected by slides.
NEW YORK TIMES
$772 Million Penalty for Bank of America Credit Card Practices  | The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said that the bank “illegally charged†its customers for credit-monitoring and credit reporting services that were not received.
DealBook »
What Awaits Banks After the Leverage Ratio  | The Basel Committee is considering rules that will affect banks’ business strategies significantly and continue to influence how they strengthen their auditing and compliance teams for years to come, Mayra RodrÃguez Valladares writes in the Another View column.
DealBook »
European Official Urges ‘Say on Pay’ Requirement for Boards  | Michel Barnier, the European Union commissioner for financial affairs, introduced a plan that would require a shareholder vote on salaries awarded to directors of about 10,000 companies listed on European stock exchanges.
DealBook »
Hesitant Fed Decided Time Was Right to Change Stimulus Campaign, Minutes Show  | The March meeting underscored the complexity of the decision to replace its guidance about when it might begin to raise the level of short-term interest rates, The New York Times writes.
NEW YORK TIMES
I.M.F. Warns of Risk From Emerging-Market Corporate Bonds  | A credit bubble in fast-growing economies could burst, a report said, putting American mutual funds and other global investors in danger, The New York Times writes.
NEW YORK TIMES
