DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Germany demands new citizens accept Israel’s right to exist
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —People applying for naturalization in Germany will now be required to affirm Israel’s right to exist, under changes to the country’s citizenship law. The country’s naturalization exam will now include a number of new questions, according to a statement from the interior ministry. “In response to increasing antisemitism in Germany, the list of questions in the naturalization test has been expanded. New exam questions have been added on the topics of antisemitism, the right of the state of Israel to exist and Jewish life in Germany,” it said. ‘A crystal clear red line’The legislation is being introduced nationwide after the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt also required citizenship applicants to recognize Israel’s right to exist in December.

Persons: Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Lamya Kaddor, Nancy Faeser, ” Organizations: CNN, Israel, Green, Christian Democratic Union, CDU, Bundestag Locations: Germany, Berlin, Gaza, Israel, Europe, Saxony, Anhalt, German, RIAS

☆ Andy Sieg Could Be Citi's Next CEO If He Can Fix a Broken Wealth Business
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

Andy Sieg shocked the finance industry last spring when he left Merrill Wealth Management. AdvertisementBank of America analyst Ebrahim Poonawala recently argued that Citi should consider selling the wealth business if it cannot improve its profitability. AdvertisementWhile Sieg has told Citi managing directors to manage up less, a former Merrill executive who worked under him said Sieg was adept at it. Former Citi managing directorAdvertisementVahid's position will be taken by Kris Bitterly, the global head of investment products, in September. Mirroring tactics that supercharged Merrill, Sieg has changed Citi Wealth's compensation scheme to prioritize asset gathering, to the consternation of several employees.

Persons: Andy Sieg, Kevin Crain, Sieg, Crain, Jane Fraser, Fraser, Morgan Stanley, Merrill, Smith Barney, Ebrahim Poonawala, Wells, Mike Mayo, Brian Moynihan, Alex Wong, Moynihan, Fraser isn't, Mayo, anoint, Jamie Dimon, Jennifer Piepszak, Marianne Lake, Viswas Raghavan, Jane, He'd, George H, Bush, Bill Schreyer, Merrill Lynch, Dave Komansky, David Komansky, YOSHIKAZU TSUNO, Phil, Doug, Lord Abbett, David Poole, Citi's, there's, That's, Poole, Glenn Schorr, Jim O'Donnell, O'Donnell, Sieg's, Andy Sieg's, Naz Vahid, David Bailin, Bailin, Naz, Phil Waxelbaum, Vahid, Kris, Don Plaus, Keith Glenfield, Dawn Nordberg, Edward Jones, They're, Ernst & Young, he's Organizations: Merrill Wealth Management, Business, Citi, Bank of America, Morgan, BI, Merrill, Bank, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Harvard, Penn State, JPMorgan Advisors, United Arab, Citi . Citi, Work, Citi lifer, Former Citi, North, Citi Alliance, Citi Wealth, Bloomberg, Ernst &, Citizens Bank Locations: Sieg, Wells Fargo, Merrill, Bellefonte , Pennsylvania, Poole, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, London, Aventura , Florida, Asia, Manhattan, North America

☆ British fund manager abrdn's CEO Stephen Bird to step down
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

British fund manager abrdn said on Friday CEO Stephen Bird will step down after four years in the role, and finance chief Jason Windsor will take the helm on an interim basis. The Edinburgh-based company had named Windsor as the CFO last July. Bird, a former Citigroup executive who took over as chief executive in 2020, has sought to drive a turnaround by shedding jobs, reducing its range of funds and expanding into mass-market investing, following the takeover of online platform interactive investor in 2022. Trading and net flows so far in the second quarter have shown similar trends to the previous three-month period, abrdn said. Last month, it had reported 0.8 billion pounds ($1.02 billion) of net inflows over the January-March period, while its assets under management increased 3% to 507.7 billion pounds.

Persons: abrdn, Stephen Bird, Jason Windsor, Bird Organizations: Citigroup Locations: Edinburgh, Windsor

☆ Global recession and financial crisis could hit if the Israel-Hamas war pulls in the US and Iran, Wall Street veteran says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Israel-Hamas conflict may trigger a global recession and financial crisis, Jim Rickards says. The Wall Street veteran flagged the risks of rising oil prices, weaker demand, and de-dollarization. AdvertisementAdvertisementIf the Israel-Hamas conflict spreads, it could spark a worldwide downturn and financial catastrophe, one Wall Street veteran has warned. "We're losing the financial war in Ukraine, we're losing the financial war to the BRICs," he continued, referring to Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. AdvertisementAdvertisementRickards isn't the only expert sounding the alarm on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Persons: Jim Rickards, —, Julia LaRoche, Rickards, We're, we're, Ray Dalio Organizations: Wall Street, Service, Wall, Hezbollah, Israel, Citibank, Term Capital Management, West Texas Locations: Israel, Gaza, Lebanese, Iran, American, Brent, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, India, China, South Africa

People walk outside of Jefferies Financial Group offices in Manhattan, New York, U.S., December 8, 2021. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Investment bank and capital markets firm Jefferies (JEF.N) has hired industrial banker Francis Tucci from Citigroup (C.N) for a senior role, according to sources familiar with the move. Tucci will join Jefferies as chairman, industrials, and will report to Peter Bowden, global head of industrial, energy and infrastructure investment banking. Tucci, who will be based in New York, will start early next year, the sources said. Also in September, Wells Fargo (WFC.N) hired former Citi executive Clayton Hale as co-head of equity capital markets.

Persons: Eduardo Munoz, Francis Tucci, Tucci, Jefferies, Peter Bowden, Jane Fraser, Wells, Clayton Hale, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, David Carnevali, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Jefferies Financial, REUTERS, Investment, Jefferies, Citigroup, Citi, Svea, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York, U.S, New York, Wells Fargo

☆ SEC fines Citigroup, former unit over customer disclosures
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Citigroup Inc (Citi) logo is seen at the SIBOS banking and financial conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada October 19, 2017. Picture taken October 19, 2017. Neither Citigroup nor the former Citi International Financial Services, a Puerto Rican-based business that the bank sold last year and now known as Insigneo International Financial Services, admitted wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The accord resolves claims Citigroup did not comply with Regulation Best Interest when it programmed about 360,000 accounts to receive disclosures electronically without receiving appropriate consent from customers. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Chris Helgren, Jonathan Stempel, Chris Reese Organizations: Citigroup Inc, Citi, REUTERS, Citigroup, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Citi International Financial Services, Financial Services, Thomson Locations: Toronto , Ontario, Canada, Puerto Rican, New York

☆ Insider Today: Big Tech goes on trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Speaking of Big Tech, it's a big day for the industry as the DOJ's antitrust trial against Google starts today. It's also a strategy the Department of Justice argues is "anticompetitive and exclusionary" in a landmark trial for Big Tech kicking off today. The trial is the biggest to hit the tech industry since the government sued Microsoft in the late 1990s. AdvertisementAdvertisementMore broadly, the case is a bellwether for how the government could argue future cases against Big Tech companies in the modern era. Each case is unique, but their focus on monopolistic behavior means the Google trial could set precedents followed by both sides.

Persons: Tayfun, it's, there's, you'll, It's, Hugh Langley, Kent Walker, Hugh, Walker, Chelsea Jia Feng, Henry Farrell, Abraham Newman's, Walter Wriston's, Gil Perez, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan doesn't, Dimon, Elon, Franz von Holzhausen, Musk, Walter Isaacson, Yossakorn Kaewwannarat, VCs, they're, Nicki Minaj, Shakira, Beyoncé, Karol G, Frances Tiafoe, Austin Krajicek, Mackenzie McDonald, Tommy Paul, Rajeev Ram, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Service, Big Tech, Google, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Department of Justice, DOJ, Microsoft, Apple, Federal Trade Commission, Amazon, Meta, Deutsche, JPMorgan, Street, Workers, Gallup, Startup, MTV, Team, Amtrak Locations: Wall, Silicon, Chelsea, New York City, San Diego, London, New York

☆ Lazard, facing a dealmaking drought, is on a mission to boost its money management business. It won't be easy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The group extends guidance on geopolitical matters to clients as well as colleagues, like the asset management arm's sprawling salesforce. The firm is making a series of changes to ramp up its asset management business. Lazard has had an asset management business for decades, but it's a business that's finding new relevance on Wall Street. Incoming Lazard CEO Peter Orszag, pictured here in May, has made improving the asset management business a priority. "When it comes to the asset management business, the picture is probably more blurry," said Richard Bruyère, managing partner of the Paris-based asset management advisory firm Indefi.

Persons: Lazard, Evan Russo, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Peter Orszag, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, it's, Russo, Orszag, Ray McGuire, Jennifer Ryan, Goldman Sachs, Brennan Hawken, Richard Bruyère, Bruyère, Ryan, Hartley, Morgan Stanley, Janus Henderson, Ashmore, Devin Ryan, AllianceBernstein, Larry Cohen, " Russo, Peter Organizations: Lazard, BlackRock, Citi, New York, North, Incoming Lazard, REUTERS, UBS, Investors, Firms, Virtus, Liontrust, Bank's JMP Securities Locations: Russia, New York, Washington, North America, Paris, Taft, Asia

☆ In return to office messaging, there's now more stick, less carrot
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

This marks a shift from the incentive culture that many companies have been using to lure workers back to the office post-pandemic. But workforce demographics vary widely when it comes to the benefits, and the desire, to return to the office. Employees who work from the office at least three times a week report feeling more connected to their colleagues, a company spokesman said. This could mean, for instance, spelling out to the sales team that Mondays and Wednesdays are in-office days because that's when the bulk of customer interactions happen, and making clear to engineering that Thursdays are in-office days because that's when code reviews happen. This comes as the company will start mandating employees be in the office four days a week, up from three days, after Labor Day.

Persons: Bradford, Bell, William J, Conaty, there's, slowdowns, Morgan Chase, Davis Polk, Sallie Krawcheck, Lynne C, Vincent, Jenny von Podewils, Podewils, Rubab Jafry O'Connor, Neil Barr Organizations: Resources, Center, Cornell University's ILR, Google, Skadden, Wardwell, LaSalle Network, Citi, Bank of America, CNBC, Companies, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University, Employees, Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, Labor Locations: Slate

Right now though, the market has never been more top-heavy and the share of market constituents outperforming the broader index has never been lower. According to Ed Clissold at Ned Davis Research, the percentage of stocks outperforming the S&P 500 this year is just 24.5%. The percentage of S&P 500 stocks outperforming the index on a rolling three-month basis is just 20.3%, a record low. Clissold says that the S&P 500's one-year gain after periods of relative strength by a small group of large caps is an average 1.8%. These five stocks account for over a quarter of the S&P 500's $36.78 trillion market cap, and the top 10 account for a third of the total.

Persons: bode, Ed Clissold, Ned Davis, Meb Faber, Chuck Prince's, Cambria's Faber, Jamie McGeever, Andrea Ricci Organizations: NYSE, Barclays, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Ned Davis Research, Reuters, Google, Cambria Investment Management, Citigroup, Thomson Locations: ORLANDO, Florida

☆ Tennis Star Serena Williams, Former Citi M&A Co-Chief Mark Shafir to Join Consello
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Lauren Thomas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tennis icon Serena Williams is retiring from the sport after the U.S. Open to focus on her family and a flurry of business ventures. WSJ breaks down the assets that make up Williams’ wealth, which is estimated at $260 million. Photo: Grace Schultz/Zuma PressTennis champion Serena Williams is set to join financial-services advisory and strategic-investing firm Consello Group with former Citigroup M&A co-chief Mark Shafir , according to people familiar with the matter. Consello was started by Declan Kelly , who had been chief executive of advisory firm Teneo until 2021. More recently he has been aggressively building the new firm, bringing in National Football League star Tom Brady and other business heavyweights as partners.

☆ CEOs thought the return to office debate was over. It looks like they were wrong
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Other companies, too, could see reverberations if they enact similar policies, especially if the mandates feel arbitrary, human resources professionals say. That's why companies that want to bring workers back to the office need to focus on reconfiguring workspaces to foster additional collaboration. If your company hasn't yet, maybe don't 'mandate'Many companies are still ironing out their return-to-office policies. JustAnswer, an online source for professional information, has seen a 49% increase in questions related to return-to-office mandates and/or policies in its Employment Law category compared with May 2022. Companies should also evaluate whether across-the-board policies make sense, or whether in-office mandates should be implemented for certain functions only, Kogut said.

In this article CTRN Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTCommuters exit a Wall Street subway station near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US. Yet, even as layoffs in tech and beyond mount, employees are pushing back against leaders who issue return-to-office mandates. Companies that look to recreate a pre-pandemic way of working are going to be left behind when it comes to keeping and attracting the best talent. At the CFO meeting, she told a majority male group of finance leaders to look around the room. And believe me, if being in the office was going to work to get more women and people of color promoted, it would have happened already.

☆ Valuing Michael Klein is a fascinating sideshow
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The two sides have discussed a deal where Credit Suisse would acquire M. Klein & Company with Klein getting a stake in First Boston. Putting a price on M. Klein & Co is hard from the outside because its accounts aren’t publicly available. The size of that holding depends therefore on the relative worth of First Boston and M. Klein & Co. A 9% stake would then be worth $320 million, implying a huge payday for M. Klein & Co shareholders. If Klein makes money, Credit Suisse shareholders would do very well too.

☆ Credit Suisse nears deal to buy Michael Klein's advisory firm - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 9 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) is close to an agreement to acquire former Citigroup executive Michael Klein's advisory boutique, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. The Swiss bank will value M. Klein & Company at around a few hundred million dollars, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Credit Suisse declined to comment on the report. M. Klein & Co did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. The potential deal is expected to allow M. Klein & Co. shareholders to take an eventual stake in CS First Boston using proceeds from the sale, Bloomberg said.

The average year-to-date losses on Thanksgiving days in these years was 10.5%, and the average rise post-Thanksgiving through Dec. 31 was 1.5%. The S&P 500's year-to-date loss on Thanksgiving Thursday this year was 15.5%, having been down as much as 27% in mid-October. chartIf ever there was a year Wall Street was primed to register an above-average whoosh in the last few trading weeks of the year, this is it. Even beyond investors' instinctive "FOMO" (fear of missing out) on the upswing underway, positioning is extremely light and portfolios are historically underweight stocks. Relative to average positioning over the past 10 years, investors' biggest underweight position this month is in stocks.

☆ Piyush Gupta might be banking’s boldest boss
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Una Galani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Piyush Gupta of $65 billion Singaporean lender DBS Group (DBSM.SI) appears to be that CEO, whether he thinks of himself that way or not. Yet the two banks trade on a similar multiple of 1.5 times their estimated 2022 book value, according to Refinitiv. There is limited room for growth in DBS’ tiny home market, a city with a population of 5.5 million people. That, plus the pressure to maintain that 1.5-times-book market value, means Gupta needs to keep finding ways to grow. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks on Nov. 14 while at the G20 summit in Indonesia.

The company will be a preferred long-term partner for Credit Suisse, the bank has said. Credit Suisse declined to comment beyond Lehmann's remarks Oct. 27 when the bank unveiled the restructuring. The investment bank spin-off and the sale of the securitized products unit to Apollo are key planks of the reorganization. Klein, a 59-year-old former Citigroup rainmaker who runs advisory boutique M. Klein & Co, has been a Credit Suisse board member since 2018. Klein and Credit Suisse also have discussed combining M. Klein & Co into CS First Boston, according to one source familiar with the discussions.

NEW YORK/ LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - First Boston is an old Wall Street name that’s re-emerging from Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) with some new features. Credit Suisse Chief Executive Ulrich Körner is reshaping the $11 billion group to put some bad years and big losses firmly in the past. Credit Suisse is setting up joint ventures between CS First Boston and the parent’s trading and wealth management businesses, according to a person familiar with the matter. An added complication is that CS First Boston bankers could be getting paid in their own division’s stock, rather than Credit Suisse shares. Michael Klein will step down from the Credit Suisse board of directors to help launch CS First Boston, the bank said.

☆ Michael Klein’s fourth act may be his toughest
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Yet his toughest task yet will be making a success of Credit Suisse’s (CSGN.S) carved-out advisory unit, CS First Boston. Credit Suisse will be reluctant to provide that, having already slashed exposures to $3.6 billion from $10.2 billion in early 2021. Credit Suisse has struggled for years to encourage the two divisions to team up on deals involving billionaire business owners. Klein’s fourth investment banking act will be his toughest. Klein, a former Citigroup banker who has been on the Credit Suisse board since 2018, will act as an adviser to Chief Executive Ulrich Körner.

☆ Factbox: Who's in and out in Credit Suisse's day of reckoning
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Oct 27 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse's (CSGN.S) latest shake-up has led to the promotion of some senior executives to more powerful roles while others are leaving. IN:MICHAEL KLEINA former Citigroup Inc (C.N) dealmaker, Klein has been named adviser to Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Körner. He was hired by former Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam in 2017 to run equity derivatives globally. A Spanish national, Lopez Lorenzo joined Credit Suisse in 2015 from JPMorgan (JPM.N) where he was a managing director in New York. The 47-year-old banker was part of a new crop of executives who had been tasked to restore Credit Suisse's reputation after a series of scandals.

☆ Credit Suisse begins perilous ride to right place
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - After years of botched strategies, Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) has finally hit the nail on the head. He’s also in exclusive talks with Apollo Global Management (APO.N) and PIMCO about selling the securitisation business, which bundles and slices mortgages for credit investors. It could fall even further if Credit Suisse eventually hives off the carved-out dealmaking business it is rebranding as CS First Boston, under former Citigroup (C.N) rainmaker Michael Klein. Those moves solve the central problem that has plagued Credit Suisse for years, and which former CEOs Thomas Gottstein and Tidjane Thiam failed to answer. The deposit outflow saw Credit Suisse breach liquidity requirements set by regulators of its legal subsidiaries.

☆ If Credit Suisse loves its bankers, set them free
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

LONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) is a weak bank with some strong bankers. SECOND COMINGImagine, then, that Credit Suisse spins out its advisory and capital-markets business. But Credit Suisse has never quantified the business it wins from intragroup referrals, which suggests it is low. In this case, it will be higher if those people are no longer at Credit Suisse. First Boston was a U.S. investment bank in which Credit Suisse first bought a stake in 1978.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog, starts a two-day meeting in Paris on Thursday and is expected to take up removal of Pakistan from a list of countries under "increased monitoring". In a meeting in June, the FATF said it was keeping Pakistan on the list - also known as the "grey list" - but said it might be removed after an on-site visit to verify progress. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterHere are some key points:WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR PAKISTAN? If removed from the list, Pakistan would essentially receive a reputational boost and get a clean bill of health from the international community on terrorist financing. Removal from the FATF list would provide Pakistan a boost after the country's sovereign credit rating was downgraded by Moody's.

☆ See the 14-slide pitch deck a former Citi banker used to raise $26 million for his Web3 startup
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Ellen Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The idea came after Ceesay helped the basketball player securitize his NBA contract using ethereum. Solo Ceesay, a 27-year-old ex-Citi investment banker, has paired up with the NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie to launch a new Web3 company. Ceesay and Dinwiddie first saw a business opportunity in Web3 after Ceesay used his investment-banking expertise to help Dinwiddie securitize a $34.4 million NBA contract using ethereum. On Calaxy, creators set all the rules and price out what their content is worth in "tokens" that their fans can buy. Ceesay walked Insider through the pitch deck that secured Calaxy $26 million in funding:

Search resuls for: "Former Citi"

25 mentions found