Jamie Dimon, wrestling with the fallout from JPMorgan Chase’s multibillion-dollar trading loss, has received advice from a rival, Lloyd C. Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, Susanne Craig and Jessica Silver-Greenberg report in DealBook. “The two executives have talked privately a number of times in recent months about the challenges that Mr. Dimon is facing, people with knowledge of the relationship but not authorized to speak on the matter, have said.â€
The conversations between the two chief executives underscore a role reversal. “It is now Mr. Dimon who is in a harsh public spotlight, seemingly at odds with regulators. It was not long ago that Mr. Blankfein was being questioned by Congress over accusations that Goldman had misled investors during the financial crisis over the sale of mortgage-backed securities,†DealBook writes. “Now, with Goldman cleared of crisis-era investigations and its profits rising, Mr. Blankfein is enjoying something of a renaissance as an elder statesman of Wall Street.†One person with knowledge of the relationship who was not authorized to speak on the record said: “I would call them foul weather friends.â€
Mr. Dimon faces a test in the coming days, as shareholders vote on whether to separate his positions of chairman and chief executive. But the debate over that matter is “silly,†Steven M. Davidoff writes in the Deal Professor column. “People make mistakes, and whether having yet another voice supervising risk would make a difference is uncertain. With JPMorgan, an independent chairman is probably not going to bolster risk management in any meaningful way.†Mr. Davidoff continues, “Given what can be realistically expected from separating the chairman and chief executive positions, this shareholder vote appears to be more about the uneasiness people feel about big banks.â€
AN UNINVITED GUEST IN JAPAN  | In pushing for a breakup of Sony, Daniel S. Loeb is bringing an American style of investing to a clubby corporate culture where such activism has traditionally been greeted with hostility, Hiroko Tabuchi writes in DealBook. “How Sony, and Japan, react to the demands brought by Mr. Loeb on Tuesday could become a test of how far the country has come in making good on promises to open up to more foreign investment and, more important, change.â€
Investors initially cheered Mr. Loeb’s efforts, as shares of Sony rose nearly 10 percent in the United States on Tuesday, to $20.76. But the reaction among Sony’s managers has been muted. “Sony is an icon. Until now, it hasn’t had a fellow like this coming in and making demands in public,†said Nicholas Benes, a former Wall Street banker who now advises Japanese companies on corporate governance. In the past, American activist investors have met with frustration in their efforts to add value at Japanese companies.
So far, Mr. Loeb has been far more polite in this campaign than in his previous efforts, DealBook’s Michael J. de la Merced notes. In a letter hand-delivered to Sony’s chief executive, Mr. Loeb said he wanted to be a partner to the company. But followers of the investor know he has made his name on his poison pen. In one example, a 2005 letter to the chief executive of Star Gas, a heating oil distributor, Mr. Loeb said: “It is time for you to step down from your role as C.E.O. and director so that you can do what you do best: retreat to your waterfront mansion in the Hamptons where you can play tennis and hobnob with your fellow socialites.â€
ON THE AGENDA  | Hedge funds disclose their holdings in 13-F filings. Data on industrial production in the United States in April is out at 9:15 a.m. Macy’s reports earnings before the market opens; Cisco Systems reports results Wednesday evening. A House Financial Services subcommittee has a hearing at 10 a.m. on too-big-to-fail institutions. Robert Wolf of 32 Advisors is on CNBC at 8 a.m. Gary D. Cohn of Goldman Sachs is on CNBC at 1:30 p.m.
BLOOMBERG L.P., WALL STREET PLAYER  | “Long thought of as a company that serves the needs of Wall Street firms, Bloomberg L.P. is quietly becoming more like them, moving recently into businesses that have been the domain of the largest banks,†Peter Eavis and Nathaniel Popper write in DealBook. “This relatively unheralded expansion by Bloomberg helps explain Wall Street’s consternation at recent disclosures that some customer data was freely available to reporters and others inside the company. The fear inside banks is that Bloomberg could use that data not only to write negative news articles but also to compete directly.â€
“In recent years, Bloomberg has offered new ways to trade stocks, bonds and more complicated financial products, potentially taking revenue from subscribers to the ubiquitous Bloomberg desktop terminals, which contain a vast store of market data. The expansion is even leading Bloomberg to offer traditional Wall Street services like wealth management and research.â€
J.C. Flowers to Buy British Debt Collector  | The private equity firm run by J. Christopher Flowers is buying Cabot Credit Management, in its largest deal ever in Britain, according to The Financial Times. FINANCIAL TIMES
Dell Expected to Miss Profit Estimates  | Dell, at the center of a takeover contest, “pushed up the timing for releasing its quarterly profits, which the company expects to be far worse than Wall Street had expected, according to a person briefed on the results,†The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Actavis Said to Have Rejected a $15 Billion Offer  | The drug maker Actavis rejected a takeover offer from Mylan last week, according to Reuters, which cites an unidentified person familiar with the situation. REUTERS
Dish Network to Sell $2.5 Billion in Debt  | The Dish Network Corporation said on Tuesday that it would sell $2.5 billion in debt to help finance its $25 billion offer for Sprint Nextel. Read more »
DealBook »
Warner Music Secures European Approval to Buy Parlophone Label  | Universal Music is selling Parlophone to Warner as a condition of Universal’s purchase of EMI’s recorded music business. REUTERS
HSBC Plans More Job Cuts in Effort to Save Up to $3 Billion  | HSBC said on Wednesday that it planned to find an additional $2 billion to $3 billion in cost cuts by 2016 that would include the elimination of as many as 14,000 jobs. DealBook »
Morgan Stanley Shareholders Approve Executive Compensation Plan  | At Morgan Stanley’s annual meeting on Tuesday, 86.2 percent of shareholders approved the executive compensation plan, compared with 94.8 percent a year ago. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Japanese Banks Expect Profit to Decline  | Three giant Japanese banks “forecast earnings will decline this year as monetary easing makes loans less profitable even as borrowing picks up amid an economic recovery,†Bloomberg News writes. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Embattled Italian Bank Reports Better-Than-Expected Revenue  | Monte dei Paschi di Siena reported a loss that was narrower than analysts had expected, according to Bloomberg News. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Regulatory Pressure Drives Commerzbank to Seek Out New Capital  | The German bank will try to raise 2.5 billion euros ($3.2 billion), to protect against future shocks and to help repay a 2009 government bailout. DealBook »
Courting the Small, Local Investor  | The New York Times writes: “Taking a page from Web sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, real estate upstarts like Fundrise, Property Peers, Realty Mogul and Prodigy Network, which is based in New York, are transforming the way real estate projects are built and who profits from them, by allowing the public to invest in an asset class that has traditionally been the exclusive domain of wealthy investors and private equity firms.†NEW YORK TIMES
In Asia, Borrowing to Cash Out  | Private equity firms in Asia are adding debt to companies they own in order to pay dividends, a practice that “makes the debt riskier for investors who buy it,†The Wall Street Journal writes. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Deborah L. Bernstein, Private Equity Partner, Dies at 41  | Deborah L. Bernstein, a partner at the private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners, died on Friday in New York. She was 41. DealBook »
Hedge Funds Bet on a Recovery for Mortgage Giants  | Hedge funds including Paulson & Company, which made a fortune in the housing crash, have bought preferred shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the expectation that the mortgage finance giants will eventually make payments to holders of such securities, The Wall Street Journal writes. WALL STREET JOURNAL
In Fight With Hess, Elliott Proposes Seating All Board Nominees  | Elliott Management offered on Tuesday to seat both its slate of five director nominees and the Hess Corporation’s slate, in what it said was a step toward completely remaking the energy company’s board. DealBook »
Elan Shareholders Put a Number on Claim Against SAC Â |Â Shareholders of the drug company Elan filed an amended and consolidated class action complaint against SAC Capital, seeking nearly $1 billion, The New York Post reports. NEW YORK POST
China Galaxy Securities Raises $1.1 Billion in I.P.O. Â |Â The deal priced at the low end of its expected range, for the biggest I.P.O. in Hong Kong in six months, Reuters reports. REUTERS
Tesla’s Stock Is Trading at Rich Multiples  | To justify Tesla’s high 2016 valuation multiple, revenue would need to keep growing at a fast clip, Antony Currie of Reuters Breakingviews writes. REUTERS BREAKINGVIEWS
Two Music Moguls Seek Tech Talent  | The record producer Jimmy Iovine and the rapper Dr. Dre, his business partner, are giving $70 million to the University of Southern California to create a degree combining business, marketing, product development, design and liberal arts, The New York Times reports. “If the next start-up that becomes Facebook happens to be one of our kids, that’s what we are looking for,†Mr. Iovine said. NEW YORK TIMES
Thiel Brings Money and Some Credibility to Europe  | Valar Ventures, the venture fund of Peter Thiel, led a $6 million investment round for TransferWise, a financial services start-up based in London. DealBook »
Google Expected to Introduce a Subscription Music Feature  | The subscription music service would compete with services like Spotify, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
U.S. Budget Deficit Shrinks Faster Than Expected  | A new report by the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the deficit for this fiscal year will fall to about $642 billion, or 4 percent of the nation’s annual economic output, about $200 billion lower than the estimate three months ago, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
Ex-Wife of SAC’s Cohen Hires New Lawyer in Revived Lawsuit  | Patricia Cohen has hired Joshua L. Dratel, a New York trial lawyer, to represent her after a federal appeals court revived her lawsuit against Steven A. Cohen, her former husband. DealBook »
Europe Raids 3 Companies in Oil Price Inquiry  | The New York Times reports: “The authorities on Tuesday raided the offices of several oil companies and an industry data provider as part of a broader inquiry by the European Commission into potential price manipulation.†NEW YORK TIMES
U.S. Portrays Apple as ‘Ringmaster’ in E-Book Price-Fixing Lawsuit  | The Justice Department now says that Apple had “a more direct leadership role than originally portrayed in the department’s April 2012 antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five publishing companies,†The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
Report on I.R.S. Audits Points to Management Flaws  | “An inspector general’s report issued Tuesday blamed ineffective Internal Revenue Service management in the failure to stop employees from singling out conservative groups for added scrutiny,†The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
