There is nothing like a good scandal on Wall Street, especially one involving the trading secrets of Goldman Sachs.
The investment bank's ability to post numbers is legendary, and over the July 4 weekend, the bank's secret may have gotten out. A Russian immigrant and ex-Goldman computer programmer Sergey Aleynikov was arrested on July 3 for stealing Goldman's secret computer trading codes and uploading them to a German website.
In 2008, Goldman had the highest equities trading revenue of all the bulge brackets on Wall Street, aided in part by its electronic trading system.
It's a big deal because the code lets the firm do "sophisticated, high-speed and high-volume trades on various stock and commodities markets," said prosecutors said in court papers.
Bloggers and columnists are going crazy suggesting global espionage and conspiracy theories.
Aleynikov's wife says he is innocent.
Promotions at BoFA
Bank of America managed to hold onto two top talents in what has proven a very tough task since the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Steven Baronoff and Stefan Selig are the latest two to be promoted by the bank. (WSJ)
Union Demands Lewis' Scalp
In other BofA news, CEO Ken Lewis is now facing the heat from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The union says that BofA forces them to burden customers with "costly and unnecessary products." Incidentally, one SEIU member is Anna Burger, who is on President Obama's Economic Advisory Board. (TheBusinessReview)
Wein's Swan Song
Byron Wien of Pequot Capital Management, the hedge fund that closed down in May after allegations of insider trading, waxed eloquent about his business partner Arthur Samberg: "It's too bad that Art's dream of a firm that continued after him was not realized because it was the right dream and he was the right guy to make it happen." (Dealbook).
Pink Slips
Some bankers had a rough long weekend. There are rumors of layoffs at Well Fargo, Western Corporate Federal Credit Union and Stanford International Bank. The credit card giant Discover will cut 55 jobs in New Albany as part of a company-wide 500-job cut. But Royal Bank of Canada and Jefferies Group are still hiring. (TheDeal, ColumbusBusinessFirst)
Boomers Start Businesses
Retirement funds have taken a hit and baby boomers are turning into entrepreneurs. The Kauffman Foundation reported that America may be "on the cusp of an entrepreneurship boom." (KauffmanFoundation).