Dodd-Frank Makes a Debate Cameo

Dodd-Frank Makes a Debate Cameo  | 
While Wednesday night's presidential debate covered a lot of wonky ground, DealBook was gripped when Mitt Romney began discussing the new Wall Street regulation. The Republican candidate called Dodd-Frank “the biggest kiss” for “New York banks I've ever seen,” saying the law was hurting smaller lenders. (Big banks haven't exactly seen it that way.)

Asked whether he would roll back the law, Mr. Romney said, “I would repeal it and replace it.” Mr. Romney also said “one of the unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank” was that it designated “five banks as too big to fail” and gave them a “blank check,” a claim that may be a bit exaggerated. President Obama countered, “Does anybody out there think that the big problem we had is that there was too much oversight and regulation of Wall Street?”

The rivals also discussed tax policies, including ones that could encourage big corporations to repatriate some of their cash. But the issue is more complicated than the candidates made it seem. Victor Fleischer, DealBook's tax columnist, writes: “From a policy perspective, the problem is not so much that tax on foreign income is deferred, but rather that United States income is being masqueraded as foreign income.”

And for those paying close attention Wednesday night, Mr. Romney gave a harsh assessment of Tesla, the electric car start-up that recently received some eased conditions on a government loan.

 

Sprint Left Hanging  | 
T-Mobile USA's deal for MetroPCS puts more pressure on Sprint Nextel, DealBook writes. “MetroPCS represents a potentially big lost opportunity for Sprint,” the No. 3 carrier, which tried and failed to buy MetroPCS earlier this year. Acc ording to The Wall Street Journal, Sprint was in preliminary talks with T-Mobile at the same time as T-Mobile was in negotiations with MetroPCS. One potential takeover target for Sprint, Leap Wireless International, looked like less of a viable partner on Wednesday, DealBook notes. Its shares fell nearly 18 percent.

One of MetroPCS's advisers in the deal was a law firm with an unusual name, writes DealBook's Peter Lattman. Telecommunications Law Professionals, a boutique firm in Washington, “wanted to go with something very descriptive with what we were doing,” said Michael Lazarus, one of the founding partners. “In terms of marketing you know what you're getting right away.” The banks advising on the deal stand to earn at least $50 million, according to an estimate from the research firm Freeman & Company.

 

Whither H.P.?  |  Meg Whitman showed no mercy for her c ompany, Hewlett-Packard, when she told analysts on Wednesday to lower their expectations sharply. The stock tumbled 13 percent by the end of the day. While analysts praised the chief executive for her candor, the weak stock price is increasing deal speculation. The Bits blog writes: “The tech industry is facing a transition from traditional PCs and servers to mobile devices and cloud computing, and is consolidating. H.P. could become a target either for corporate raiders or for another tech company in a hostile takeover.”

 

On the Agenda  |  The focus is on Europe on Thursday, as the Bank of England and European Central Bank announce their interest rate decisions. The head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, is holding a press conference at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, where he might offer more details on the central bank's bond-buying program. In the United States, the Federal Reserve's policy-making committee releases minutes from its recent meeting at 2 p.m.

Meg Whitman of Hewlett-Packard is appearing on CNBC at 9:05 a.m. The chief executive of AOL, Tim Armstrong, is on Bloomberg TV at 9:45. William Harrison, JPMorgan Chase's former leader, is on Bloomberg TV at 10. And Laurence D. Fink, the head of BlackRock, is on CNBC at 4:10.

 

Keepin' It Real at Third Point  | 

Daniel S. Loeb of Third Point may be the only hedge fund manager to employ the Tupac Shakur theory of investing. In his quarterly letter, he quoted the deceased rapper: “I'm trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents.” In this case, he was referring to his European debt holdings, which gained 35 percent over the last six months.

 

Is The Financial Times in Play?  |  The chief executive of Pearson, the education and media company that owns The Financial Times, is stepping down after nearly 16 years, raising questions about the future of the newspaper. “Analysts have speculated that Pearson would sell the FT Group, which includes the rose-colored business daily and its various digital assets. Potential buyers include Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg, both of which employ hundreds of financial journalists but do not own a daily newspaper,” The New York Times reports.

 

After Bear Stearns, a Ferris Wheel  |  Richard Marin, who gained notoriety for blogging about movies during a particularly tense weekend for Bear Stearns hedge funds, is now behind the effort to build the world's biggest Ferris wheel on Staten Island, The New York Observer reports.

 

 

 

Mergers & Acquisitions '

Mitsubishi Unit Buys Aircraft Leasing Firm From Oaktree for $1.3 Billion  |  Mitsubishi UFJ Lease and Finance has agreed to acquire Jackson Square Aviation, an aircraft leasing company based in San Francisco, from Oaktree Capital Management for 100 billion yen. DealBook '

 

3M Abandons Deal to Buy Avery Dennison Unit  |  A month after the Justice Department had threatened to sue to block the deal, 3M announced on Wednesday that it was terminating its agreement with Avery Dennison to buy its office and consumer products business for $550 million in cash. DealBook '

 

Louis Dreyfus Said to Be Selling Energy Trading Venture  |  “Glenn Dubin, Paul Tudor Jones and a group of commodity market luminaries are to buy an energy trading business from Louis Dreyfus Group and Highbridge Capital, the hedge fund owned by JPMorgan Chase,” The Financial Times reports. FINANCIAL TIMES

 

Europe Reviews Glencore-Xstrata  |  The European Commission set a deadline of Nov. 8 to weigh in on the deal. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

Talks Over European Aerospace Merger Test Political Ties  |  The proposed merger between EADS and BAE “is shaping up like many bold pan-European projects: as a test of individual countries' willingness to subordinate their own interests to boost the continent's fortunes,” The Wall Stre et Journal writes. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

Bartz's Advice for Mayer  |  Carol Bartz, a former chief executive of Yahoo, had some advice for her successor, Marissa Mayer: “It's very, very hard to affect culture. And you can get surprised thinking you're farther down the path of change than you really are because, frankly, most of us like the way things are.” NEW YORK TIMES BITS

 

INVESTMENT BANKING '

European Banks Required to Maintain Capital  |  The decision by a European regulator means banks probably will not be able to buy back shares or pay dividends in the near future. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

< p>Another Error for Nasdaq  |  The exchange canceled some trades in Kraft Foods after a glitch caused shares to rise nearly 30 percent, The Financial Times reports. FINANCIAL TIMES

 

Temasek Pushes for Changes at Standard Chartered  |  Temasek Holdings of Singapore, which owns an 18 percent stake in Standard Chartered, has been pressuring the bank to appoint more independent directors, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cites unidentified people familiar with the investment company. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

Morgan Stanley Said to Be in Talks to Sell Stake in Commodities Unit  |  The firm is considering selling “as much as a majority stake of its commo dities unit to the Qatar Investment Authority, according to people familiar with the potential deal,” The Financial Times reports. FINANCIAL TIMES

 

Ocwen Picks Up a Mortgage Lender  |  Ocwen Financial, which collects mortgage payments, is moving into the business of originating mortgages, after agreeing to pay $750 million to acquire Homeward Residential Holdings, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

Bank of America to Sell New Jersey Office Campus  | 
BLOOMBERG NEWS

 

PRIVATE EQUITY '

French Tax Proposal Provokes Outcry From Private Equity  |  President François Hollande of France wants to tax carried interest at a rate as high as 75 percent - a plan that has private equity managers “predicting their own exile,” Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS

 

TPG Raises Concerns About Billabong  |  But TPG Capital is still interested in buying the Australian company for $700 million. REUTERS

 

Blackstone Group as Landlord  |  The Blackstone Group “has become the biggest U.S. investor in single-family rental homes by spending more than $1 billion since the start of 2012 to acquire more than 6,500 foreclosed houses in eight metropolitan areas, according to people briefed by Blackstone,” The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

HEDGE FUNDS '

Hedge Fund Seizes an Argentine Ship  |  The Financial Times reports: “An Argentine naval vessel crewed by more than 200 sailors has been seized in Ghana as part of an attempt by the U.S. hedge fund Elliott Capital Management to collect on bonds on which Buenos Aires defaulted in 2001.” FINANCIAL TIMES

 

Tiger Global Said to Log Strong Gains  |  The $6 billion hedge fund is up 22.4 percent for the year, two unidentified people familiar with the numbers told Reuters. REUTERS

 

Hedge Fund Manager Makes a Case Against Apple   |  Doug Kass of Seabreeze Partners said in a recent memo that the world's most valuable company “is losing some mojo and mindshare,” The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

I.P.O./OFFERINGS '

Pay TV Company Astro Malaysia Raises $1.5 Billion in I.P.O.  |  The pay television operator Astro Malaysia's $1.5 billion I.P.O. ranks as Malaysia's third-largest this year, as the country has emerged as a surprise home to one of the top markets for initial public offerings. DealBook '

 

Berry Plastics Prices I.P.O. at Bottom of Range  |  At $16 a share, the Berry Plastics Group is raising $470 million in its I.P.O. Its shares will begin trading on Thursday. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

VENTURE CAPITAL '

Japanese Entrepreneurs Come Into Their Own  |  The New York Times writes: “As Japan's aging tech giants like Sony and Panasonic continue to falter, a new generation of Japanese technology entrepreneurs is stepping up. While their numbers are small compared to those in the United States, they are turning to a bevy of start-up incubators and even to financing from Silicon Valley. And so-called start-up dating salons, like the bar in central Tokyo, are helping to match would-be collaborators.” NEW YORK TIMES

 

Andreessen Horowitz Backs a Site That Decodes Rap Lyrics  |  With a $15 million investment in Rap Genius, Andre essen Horowitz is betting the site can expand beyond its core function of annotating rap lyrics, The Los Angeles Times reports. LOS ANGELES TIMES

 

LEGAL/REGULATORY '

Wall Street's Influence on the Rule of Law  |  The government has repeatedly declined to enforce the law when it comes to big financial companies, writes Simon Johnson on the Economix blog. But in this recent JPMorgan Chase lawsuit, he asks, “Have we now turned a corner?” NEW YORK TIMES ECONOMIX

 

Changes Come to a Bank-Friendly Regulator  |  The new leader of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Thomas Curry, is said to be trying to take a tougher stance on wrongdoing, Bloomberg News writes. BLOOMBERG NEWS

 

S.E.C. Settles With ‘Dark Pool' Operator  |  The Boston-based broker-dealer eBX agreed to pay $800,000 to settle allegations that it improperly shared confidential information with a unit of Citigroup, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

Bakers Footwear Files for Chapter 11  | 
WALL STREET JOURNAL