July 7, 2008 - Merrill Lynch has scooped up nearly 30 public finance bankers from the ranks of the now-shuttered municipal group at UBS Securities--taking advantage of a 'once-in-a-decade opportunity' as its Wall Street neighbors shed staff to cope with subprime market-related losses, according to the firm's municipal chairman.
July 7, 2008 - The Carlyle Group and Crown Acquisitions said last Wednesday they have completed their $525 million joint venture purchase of a controlling interest in the retail segment of 666 Fifth Avenue from the building's owner, Kushner Cos.
July 7, 2008 - CIT Group will sell its home lending business and manufactured housing portfolio in a move to reduce mortgage exposure as the global finance company redirects its focus on commercial finance.
July 7, 2008 - Sales have swooned and home prices have plummeted while inventories of homes--new and existing--have ballooned. At the same time, credit conditions have tightened and the economy has seen a dramatic slowdown, leading restructuring professionals like Ron Greenspan of FTI Consulting to believe there is more trouble down the road for homebuilders.
June 30, 2008 - Several weeks after demoting its chief financial officer and chief operating officer, Lehman Brothers announced it brought back two senior managers and promoted two others.
June 30, 2008 - Bonds backed by Alt-A mortgage loans and home loans to less credit-worthy consumers have seen a drop in liquidity and their dollar prices have plummeted amid renewed concerns about the housing market's well-being.
June 23, 2008 - Lehman Brothers said last Monday it lost $2.8 billion in the second quarter, or $5.14 a share, compared with net income of $489 million, or 81 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2007.
June 23, 2008 - A day after Goldman Sachs offered some calming second-quarter numbers, Morgan Stanley last Wednesday posted results that suggested an all-clear signal may be premature.
June 23, 2008 - Traditional acquirers may see it as a back-door method of gaining control, but as the debt markets continue to wallow, buyers may increasingly turn to loan-to-own strategies as a way to wrest control of troubled companies.
June 23, 2008 - The credit crisis that's roiled Wall Street for nearly a year has dramatically changed how commercial properties are financed, altering the roles of different participants in a financial food chain that underwrites mortgages for properties such as malls and office buildings and then resells them into securities. Borrowers have had to turn to so-called portfolio lenders such as insurance companies and banks. In some cases, hedge funds and other funds have stepped in to provide short-term loans.
June 23, 2008 - Much like Tiger Woods and major championships, golf and Wall Street go hand-in-hand. But as the credit crunch and the ensuing slowdown in business continues to take its toll in the financial-services world, there's a raging question going on in the leafy suburbs surrounding the New York City area: to forgo the country club membership or not?
June 16, 2008 - Downgrades of MBIA and Ambac on June 5 have 'broad ramifications' for various corners of the global finance markets, according to a report issued last week by Standard & Poor's, which said 1,600 classes of structured finance transactions worth $350 billion will be affected by the downgrades.
June 16, 2008 - CIT Group announced last week it agreed to a $3 billion long-term committed financing facility from Goldman Sachs.
June 16, 2008 - When it comes to out-of-court workouts, GMAC Financial's and Residential Capital's $60 billion recapitalization earlier this month may be remembered in the same breath as other notable corporate transfusions such as Chrysler and Western Union.
June 16, 2008 - A variety of factors are causing more hospitals and other healthcare organizations to seek turnaround and restructuring services.