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March 3, 2008

Past Issues

Capital Markets

Auction Rate Suits on the Horizon

Auction rate securities. Add them to the list of woes to plague Wall Street banks, as a flood of lawsuits by investors claiming they were not fully aware of the risks involved with the investments are expected to be filed soon.

Credit Derivatives

Morgan Stanley Gets CLO Deals Done

Dead, quiet and historically low issuance. These are some descriptions of today's collateralized loan obligation (CLO) market, but bankers at Morgan Stanley managed to find buyers for the first two deals of the year last month.

Editorial

Answers In All The Wrong Places

Last week was dubbed by some 'The Week That Would Determine Whether The US Is In A Recession.' The bevy of economic data would let us know where we stand, finally, after all the uncertainty.

Exchanges

The Nasdaq Welcomes SPACs

The Nasdaq Stock Market is aiming to tap into the lucrative initial public offering market for special purpose acquisition companies, proposing a rule change to the Securities and Exchange Commission in order to list blank check companies.

Hedge Funds

Citi's Hedge Fund Woes Grow

Citigroup's hedge fund business is slipping deeper into trouble, with the bank extending a $500 million credit line to its Falcon hedge funds last week following the recent bailout of its CSO fund. On top of that, the bank's hedge fund darling and flagship fund, Old Lane Partners, from which the company's new chief executive was plucked, is struggling.

High Yield

High Yield Damsels in Distress

The new year so far has brought a rapid expansion of the distressed debt universe, and this universe will likely continue to expand in the foreseeable future.

Insurance

Euro Banks to Ambac's Rescue

The $3 billion capital-raising plan for troubled monoline Ambac is close to being announced, but adding to the complexity and uniqueness of the situation is that most of the banks involved in the bailout are European.

Investment Banking

FBR's Investment Banking Strategy

The fourth quarter was a rough one for many banks, and FBR Capital Markets was among those hit especially hard. The firm was unable to complete a number of deals, says its president and chief operating officer, Richard Hendrix.

No More Charlotte Consumer Hires

After a decade at Wachovia, Jim Walsh felt he needed a change. He decided to leave Wachovia, where he was head of the foods group within consumer investment banking, and move to Jefferies & Co., which he joined as head of consumer and retail banking in the latter's new Charlotte, N.C., office.

LBOs

Wachovia Sues Providence Equity

The business of leveraged finance conducted between Wall Street banks and financial sponsors is shaping up to be the legal equivalent of a 19th century bare-knuckle match.

Personnel File

Goldman Rewards Sherwood, Evans

Goldman Sachs added two vice chairmen, Michael Sherwood and J. Michael Evans, effective immediately. They will both continue to hold their current positions as co-chief executive of Goldman Sachs International and chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia, respectively.

Roundtable

The Auto Sector Shifts Gears

With a bottom finally expected in 2008, industry pros discuss what the automotive space is going to look like after it emerges from the downturn and how investors can find opportunities as the sector shakeout occurs.

Week on the Street

Visa Prepares IPO

Credit-card company Visa is planning an $18.8 billion initial public offering, a transaction that likely will be welcome on Wall Street, where investment banks have incurred losses and seen a drop in fees from business lines such as fixed income.

S&P Offers Market Breathing Room

Standard & Poor's left its critical 'AAA' rating on MBIA and Ambac after completing its closely watched review of the guarantors last Monday. The rating agency removed MBIA's rating from CreditWatch, assigning it a negative outlook, and affirmed Ambac's rating while keeping it on CreditWatch negative for a possible downgrade.

Lincoln Announces Madrid Opening

As first reported by IDD, mid-market investment bank Lincoln International announced last Wednesday that it opened an office in Madrid. The branch is Lincoln's eighth in total and fifth in Europe.

UBS Responds To Ospel Rumors

UBS responded to press reports stating the Swiss bank's chairman, Marcel Ospel, was on his way out. When contacted by IDD last Tuesday, Christoph Meier, a spokesman for UBS in Zurich, said Ospel would run for a one-year term at the April 23 annual shareholder meeting, but 'beyond that he has no further plans, so it's open.'

Goldman Cuts 1Q Views On Peers

As Wall Street braces for the next round of earnings from the bulge-bracket banks, Goldman Sachs is offering a sobering preview. Goldman cut its first-quarter estimates on Bear Stearns, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, related to the ongoing challenges in the credit markets.

Peloton Hit With Losses

London-based hedge fund Peloton Partners has been hit by problems plaguing mortgage-backed securities and is selling assets due to losses. The fund is liquidating its asset-backed securities fund after declines in higher-rated mortgage securities, people close to the situation said.

Securities in Registration

Securities In Registration

EQUITY and DEBT Issues in Registration. The following is a list of planned new offerings that have been registered with the SEC in the past two months, but have not yet come to market. Deals that have been withdrawn are excluded. The list is broken out into two sections: equity and debt. Initial public offerings are identified by an (IPO) flag. Outstanding shelf registrations are not listed here, but new shelf registrations are listed weekly in the New Registrations section of this magazine. To add or delete listings, or to request corrections in this section, please contact Sylvia Figel at (973) 353-7120.

Aftermarket Performance

Aftermarket Performance

Best and worst IPO performance for 2008, along with performance of recent stock offerings.