The British bank Barclays announced a restructuring of its operations on Tuesday, saying it would eliminate an additional 3,700 jobs, and reported a loss for the fourth quarter of 2012. In an effort to reduce its exposure to risky trading, Barclays said it would reduce the work force in its investment banking division by about 8 percent, or 1,800 jobs, this year, after already cutting 1,600 jobs from the unit. The bank is also cutting 1,900 jobs from its European retail and business banking unit, bringing the total expected layoffs to around 3 percent of the firm’s global work force, DealBook’s Mark Scott reports.
The plans come after Barclays reviewed its business units in the aftermath of a rate-manipulation scandal. “Barclays is changing,†the chief executve, Antony P. Jenkins, said in a statement. “We intend to change what Barclays does and how we do it.†Still, there is apparently some skepticism about the strategy among employees. “A recent one-hour conference call on ethics was met with sneering by U.S. bankers, according to insiders,†who were “dismissive of Mr. Jenkins’s attempts to overhaul the bank’s culture,†The Financial Times reports.
Barclays reported a net loss of £835 million ($1.3 billion) in the last three months of 2012, compared with a profit of £356 million in the period a year earlier. For the full year, the bank reported a net loss of £1 billion, compared with a £3 billion profit for the previous year. as the need to set aside money to cover legal costs from the rate-rigging scandal and other improper activities weighed on its results. The firm’s share price rose about 1 percent in morn! ing trading in London on Tuesday.
S.E.C. NOMINEE’S LAW FIRM WEALTH  | President Obama’s nominee to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Jo White, revealed that she and her husband had accumulated at least $16 million while working as partners at white-shoe law firms. Ms. White, head of the litigation department at Debevoise & Plimpton, also explained how she would deal with potential conflicts of interest at the S.E.C. She wrote that her husband, co-chairman of the corporate governance practice at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, would convert his partnership at Cravath from equity to nonequity status. “While many large corporate law firms have nonequity partners, meaning they hold the title of partner but have no ownership stake, each of Cravath’s 87 partners has equity in the firm. As a noneqity partner, Mr. White will receive a fixed salary and an annual performance bonus, according to the filing,†DealBook’s Peter Lattman reports.
“Ms. White also said that, for the time she serves as the S.E.C.’s chairwoman, Mr. White would not communicate with the commission on behalf of Cravath or any client in connection with rules proposed by the S.E.C. Such a restriction is not immaterial for Cravath, as Mr. White has vast experience in securities law and deep connections to the S.E.C., having served as the director of the commission’s corporation finance unit from 2006 to 2008.â€
A DATABASE FOR NETWORKING  | A new company called Relationship Science promises what is essentially a Rolodex for the 1 percent, or the ultimate Who’s Who of business, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the DealBook column.! “Forge! t six degrees of Kevin Bacon. This is six degrees of Henry Kravis.â€
The young company, the brainchild of Neal Goldman, a co-founder of the financial database service CapitalIQ, has gotten backing from Wall Street heavyweights including Ronald O. Perelman, Kenneth G. Langone, Joseph R. Perella, Stanley F. Druckenmiller, Andrew Tisch and Mr. Kravis, the private equity deal maker, Mr. Sorkin writes. A banker using the program “can type Mr. Kravis’s name into a Relationship Science search bar, and the system will scan personal contacts for people the banker knows who also know Mr. Kravis, or perhaps secondary or tertiary connections. The system shows how the searcher is connected â€" perhaps a friend, or a friend of a friend, is on a charitable board â€" and also grades the quality of those connections.†Mr. Sorkin continues, “The major innovation is that, unlike Facebook or LinkedIn, it doesn’t matter if people have signed up for the service.†Mr. Langone, financier and co-ounder in Home Depot, was enthusiastic about the possibilities for the service, saying, “it is scary how much it helps.â€
STATE OF THE UNION PREVIEW  | When President Obama delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, Wall Street will be watching for signs of the administration’s stance toward the financial industry. Last year, Mr. Obama announced the creation of a special task force to police mortgage abuses â€" a group that has already gone after several big banks. The speech this year, though, is likely to focus more on ways to support the middle class and promote the economic recovery, The New York Times writes. In addition, the preside! nt is exp! ected to address the budget negotiations in Congress, renewing his call for a “big deal†to lower the deficit.
ON THE AGENDA  | Mr. Jenkins of Barclays presents the strategic plan for the bank at 7:30 a.m. Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, will speak at a Goldman Sachs technology conference at 10:15 a.m. Lloyd C. Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, is on CNBC at 2:50 p.m. and on Bloomberg TV at 4:30 p.m. Peter Orszag, Citigroup’s vice chairman of global banking, is on CNBC at 3:30 p.m. McGraw-Hill reports earnings before the market opens.
CONSUMER GUIDE TO AN AIRLINE MERGER  | With American Airlines and US Airways likely to announce a merger this week, frequent fliers might be wondering how a eal would affect the rewards they have accumulated over the years, The New York Times writes. Brian Kelly of ThePointsGuy.com said that after a merger, “all of your US Air lifetime miles and all of your American Airlines lifetime miles will combine.†He added, “If you’ve got a small amount of US Air miles and a decent amount of American miles, all of a sudden you’re going to have this one new combined balance.â€
Joe Sharkey writes in The New York Times: “Of course, airline mergers are aimed at reducing costs and improving efficiency â€" not customer convenience. One result of the mergers has been a reduction in airline service, especially in midsize and smaller markets. That means fewer seats available for mileage award tickets and more elite-status customers competing for fewer upgrades. Today, American and the much smaller US Airways have a combined 6,500! daily fl! ights. But experience from past mergers, as well as the current trends in reducing airline capacity, suggest that a combined airline will have fewer daily flights.â€
The boards of US Airways and the parent of American Airlines are scheduled to meet separately on Wednesday to hammer out the final details of a merger agreement, which could be announced later that day or on Thursday, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Hostess Given Permission to Sell Twinkies Brand  | Hostess Brands “received court permission on Monday to proceed with auctions for several of its brands, includng Twinkies and Wonder Bread,†Reuters reports. REUTERS
Nasdaq Said to Have Discussed Going Private  | “Nasdaq OMX Group recently held discussions with the private equity firm Carlyle Group about taking the stock exchange private, just months after its main rival, the New York Stock Exchange, agreed to be purchased by the Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange,†Fox Business Network reports. FOX BUSINESS NETWORK
Redstone Sells Majority of Nonvoting Shares in Viacom  | Reuters reports: “Sumner Redstone, the chairman of Viacom, sold the majority of his! Class B ! shares in the company, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.†REUTERS
Alternatives to Dell Deal Come With Too Little Certainty  | Michael S. Dell and Silver Lake Partners have made a lowball offer for the PC maker. Yet, it’s at a respectable 25 percent premium, and the company’s shares haven’t topped the $13.65-a-share deal price in months, Robert Cyran and Richard Beales of Reuters Breakingviews write. DealBook Â'
Banks in Emerging Market Gain Traction  | Bloomberg News reports: “Global investment banks based in Europe and the U.S., facing regulatory and cost-cutting pressures at home, are losing market share in emerging economies to smaller domestic competitors.†BLOOMBERG NEWS
Macquarie Buys German Debt Portfolio From R.B.S. Â |Â A division of the Macquarie Group bought a portfolio of German residential mortgages from the Royal Bank of Scotland with a face value of about $121 million, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Goldman Names a N! ew Co-Hea! d of M.&A. Â |Â Goldman Sachs has named Gregg R. Lemkau as a new co-head of global mergers and acquisitions, according to an internal memorandum reviewed by DealBook. DealBook Â'
A Coming Shakeout in Private Equity  | With private equity firms facing deadlines in the coming years to raise additional money, a significant number of these may find themselves without the financing they need, according to Antoine Drean, chief executive of the placement agent Triago, Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Blackstone Said to Plan to Buy Stakes in Hedge Fund Firms  | Bloomberg News reports: “Blackstone Group L.P. hired Anthony Maniscalco to help run a new business that will buy stakes in hedge-fund managers, said three people familiar with the plans, as the firm tackles an investing area where institutions such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have had mixed results.†BLOOMBERG NEWS
Fund Manager Accused of Operating Ponzi Scheme  | Jason Konior of the Absolute Fund “was arrested on Monday on charges of orchestrating ! a Ponzi s! cheme and stealing around $2 million from three hedge fund investors, U.S. authorities said,†Reuters reports. REUTERS
Judge Accelerates Schedule in Einhorn’s Lawsuit Against Apple  |Â
REUTERS
Telefonica Shelves Plans for Latin American I.P.O.  | Bloomberg News reports: “Telefonica suspendedpreparations for an initial public offering of its Latin American business after a stake sale in its German unit and a bond issue relieved funding needs, people with familiar with the matter said.†BLOOMBERG NEWS
Twitter Partners With American Express  | Twitter users will be able to buy products on the messaging service as a result of a partnership between the site and the American Express Company, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Libor Investigation Turns to Brokerage Firms  | The Wall Street Journal reports: “U.S. regulators are widening their probe of global interest-rate-rigging by scrutinizing what they claim is a pivotal role of two U.K. brokerage firms in the scandal, people close to the investigation say.†WALL STREET JOURNAL
R.B.S. Executives Testify in Rate-Rigging Case  | British politicians sharply questioned current and former executives of the Royal Bank of Scotland on Monday about the management failures that led to the rate-manipulation scandal. DealBook Â'
S.&P. Lawsuit Draws New Line in the Sand  | The government’s lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s over credit ratings suggests that we may see fewer settlements and more court cases involving financial institutions in the future, writes David Zaring, assistant professor of legal studies at the Wharton School of Business. DealBook Â'
British Regulators to Investigate Accounting at Autonomy  | The move comes after accusations from Hewlett-Packard that Autonomy inflated its sales and carried out improper accounting practices before its acquisition by H.P. DealBook Â'
The Temptation to Trade on Confidential Information  | Two recent insider trading cases seem to indicate that the desire for quick profits is simply clouding our judgment, Peter J. Henning writes in the White Collar Watch column. DealBook Â'
