Lloyd Blankfein will receive an all-stock bonus worth about $9 million for his work in 2009, Goldman announced. That's half of what rival Jamie Dimon will take home for the year.
How far we've come from the salad days of 2007 when LB took home $67.9 million as a bonus.
The average Goldman bonus was around $500,000 this year, and the bank openly tried to lower its compensation-to-revenue ratio. (Bloomberg)
Everyone thought Blankfein would take home a smaller-than-average bonus to avoid more Main Street vitriol, but the number seems surprisingly low. If there's one Goldman team that can probably expect a high bonus this year, it's definitely the PR group. (
Deal Journal)
Wells Fargo Looking for 1,400 Brokers (FINS)
The battle between the banks to build the biggest brokerage armies is just starting to heat up. Days after
it was rumored that BofA planned to hire 2,000 more brokers, Wells announces its own big splash.
Facing Regulation (DealBook)
What does 2010 hold for
private equity? Regulation, registration, and more regulation.
Holy Rolling (Bloomberg)
Qatar Islamic Bank has hired
HSBC and
Credit Suisse to sell Islamic bonds. Shariah law dictates how Islam conducts finance, and only certain firms know how to navigate the nuances.
Fighting Back (CNN)
Alan Greenspan is taking on his critics one at a time, hoping to cement a positive legacy in the history books.
Negotiating an Impasse (Reuters)
The U.S. refuses to come to the negotiating table once more to talk private tax data with the Swiss. The countries had struck a deal to turn over
UBS data on tax evasion to the U.S., but the Swiss courts have gotten in the way. Maybe they can work it out over a Toblerone?
Bail out or bail in? (Reuters)
The government should have nationalized
AIG instead of bailing it out, Felix Salmon writes. Hugo Chavez would probably agree.
Foreclosure Gaffes (WSJ)
The Mortgage Bankers Association found itself sitting on a piece of property -- their HQ, to be more exact -- whose market value dropped far below what it owed to lenders. So the association sold it for about $80 million less than what it was worth. Divine retribution? Karma? We guess what goes around does come around.
Dabbling in Art (Breakingviews)
Just because Dresdner Bank wasn't good about acquiring investment banks doesn't mean it's bad at all things. The bank recently made a killing in the art marketplace when it sold a Giacometti sculpture for a record $104.3 million -- much of that beautiful profit.
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