by Derek Loosvelt | Published: Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Minutes ago, troubled banking behemoth Citigroup Inc. named Vikram S. Pandit its new CEO. Pandit, who's been with Citi for only six months and is known more for his analytical prowess than managerial skills, will now face the formidable task of turning around a firm that just weeks ago wrote down $18 billion in bad debt. Not to mention the task of increasing Citi's stock price, which has plummeted 38 percent this year. Before joining Citi, Pandit ran his own hedge fund, and[...] Read More >>
by Vault Consulting Editors | Published: Friday, December 07, 2007
A congressional study issued Wednesday by the House Government Oversight Committee reports that compensation consultants have "pervasive" conflicts of interest that seem to result in inflation of executive pay. Many compensation consulting firms do other, more lucrative work for these companies, and the study suggests that this other work can create incentives for consultants to recommend higher pay packages. The committee's chairman, California Democrat Henry Waxman, noted that consultants may suggest[...] Read More >>
by Derek Loosvelt | Published: Thursday, December 06, 2007
10. Liar's Poker. "It was sometime early in 1986, the first year of the decline of my firm, Solomon Brothers." So begins Michael Lewis' memoir following his rise from trading trainee to millionaire bond trader that made a little game with large stakes famous.9. Den of Thieves. James B. Stewart's nonfiction book about the rise and fall of some of the most infamous men ever to walk on Wall Street. It turned Milken, Boesky and the now-defunct firm Drexel Burnham Lambert[...] Read More >>
by Derek Loosvelt | Published: Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Today, The Wall Street Journal reported that New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo's office has issued subpoenas to several investment banks requesting information about the packaging and selling of debt tied to high-risk mortgages. The investigation, reminiscent of former attorney general Elliot Spitzer's high-profile inquiries into Wall Street's research practices a few years ago, is looking into how closely investment banks such as Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Deutsche Bank evaluated[...] Read More >>
by Vault Consulting Editors | Published: Wednesday, December 05, 2007
The Wall Street Journal today reports on the role of freelance fundraising consultants in the current political campaign. As candidates try to round up funds for their side, they've started outsourcing their fundraising responsibilities. According to a study of campaign finance records conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics, political parties and political action committees have contracted with roughly 800 fundraising consultants and their companies for $31.3 million, more than tripling[...] Read More >>
by Vault Law Editors | Published: Wednesday, December 05, 2007
As lucky BigLaw lawyers get ready to welcome the holidays in style, a record number of law school graduates are about to enter the competitive New York market — though relatively few will actually join the ranks of the city’s elite firms. Many are more likely to “stagnate” in a “windowless room filled with computers” than to celebrate their ”special bonuses” [see above] surrounded by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Rainbow Room. (One way to[...] Read More >>
by Vault Law Editors | Published: Wednesday, December 05, 2007
In the New York Times Dealbook, Andrew Ross Sorkin takes a look at the recent, Cravath-initiated wave of “special bonuses.” Sorkin feigns puzzlement— “this herd mentality seems absolutely irrational, economically speaking”—until concluding the whole thing is purely a function of status anxiety: “Within their risk-averse, insular world, it’s a way of saying, ‘We’re in the top tier.’ But it doesn’t necessarily make[...] Read More >>
by Vault Law Editors | Published: Friday, November 30, 2007
Res ipsa loquitur. Opening paragraphs from finalists in The 7th Annual NYLJ Fiction Writing Contest: Metaphorically speaking:As my hand grasped the old brass doorknob of number seven Second Street, my heart raced and pounded like the hooves of the thoroughbreds racing around Saratoga Racetrack. I knew the law. I had a diploma to prove it, but I did not know what to expect on my first day as an attorney at a law office. I turned the knob. Confused about commas:As I lie in bed, tears dripping[...] Read More >>
by Vault Consulting Editors | Published: Friday, November 30, 2007
One trend that has taken a firm hold in the business world, and especially in the consulting industry is Second Life, a virtual world that aims to be the 3D version of the internet. In SL, users are able to create a fantasy life for themselves: choose a new name, take on a new look, build a dream home, try a new career, fall in love, fly - bringing new meaning to the phrase, "Be all you can be." Others, like Dwight Schrute on NBC's The Office model their avatar (or, virtual self) on themselves, and[...] Read More >>
by Vault Law Editors | Published: Friday, November 30, 2007
In light of Thacher Proffitt’s recent announcement of January layoffs, this story of the firm's hiring a former former Playboy model as a new structured finance associate doesn't pass the smell test. It would be like when David Brent hired himself a pretty secretary after Wernham-Hogg announced the redundancies. Is Roll On Friday just making stuff up? Today’s "story" is conveniently name- and date-free. Sometimes, a story is "too good to check."[...] Read More >>
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