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Morgan Stanley (MS)

Morgan Stanley announced the appointment of two industry veterans to expand the leadership team within its Investment Management business. Jeffrey L. Shames, the former Chairman and CEO of MFS Investment Management, will join the Firm as a Senior Advisor to Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM). Edmond N. Moriarty III, previously a Senior Vice President at Merrill Lynch & Co., will join the Firm as Chief Operating Officer of MSIM. In addition to their new responsibilities in Investment Management, Mr. Shames and Mr. Moriarty will also act as Senior Advisor and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, of Morgan Stanley's Global Research division.

Feb 23 · 10:50:00 AM · Source: Company Press Release
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by Larry Etter

Bank of America (BAC)

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Banking and Markets President Tom Montag today announced that Sam Chapin and Todd Kaplan have been appointed executive vice chairmen of Global Banking, effective immediately. In these roles, Chapin and Kaplan will report to Montag and focus on deepening strategic client relationships and delivering the company's vast global resources on their behalf.

Feb 23 · 10:38:00 AM · Source: Company Press Release
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by Larry Etter

Goldman Sachs (GS)

Months after being labeled, among other things, a blood-sucking “great vampire squid” that caused “every major market manipulation since the Great Depression,” Goldman Sachs (GS: 156.75, n.a., n.a.%) is reportedly turning to a well-connected Texas public-relations firm to rehabilitate its image. According to the New York Post, Goldman is using Public Strategies, a firm headed by former George W. Bush and Karl Rove confidant Dan Bartlett, to gauge the bank’s “perception in the marketplace.”
Well that didn’t take long. How funny, only minutes after my previous post about Wall Street PR machines, did this come out from Fox Business news. Short of giving just about all their bonus money to charity, I don’t know how Goldman is going to spin this one. "Perception in the marketplace?" Everyone hates them, that's their perception. GS currently trading @ $156.75 in the pre-market. I wouldn't touch it. Stay tuned.

Feb 23 · 8:43:00 AM · Source: Fox Business
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by Jerry Byrne

American Express (AXP)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street paid out $20.3 billion of bonuses in 2009, up 17 percent from a year earlier, New York State's comptroller said, as the financial industry recovered fitfully from a near meltdown.
The disconnect with Main Street continues. Mr. DiNapoli acknowledged that many might consider the bonus numbers outsized given the lingering problems in the economy. "It's still a bitter pill for many people," he said. Like hello, do you think? How is the unemployed mother or father feeling this morning after reading this news? Wall St. had better put there PR machines in full blown overdrive in an attempt to spin these numbers. Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall in the Goldman Sachs executive meeting going on right now?

Feb 23 · 8:08:00 AM · Source: Reuters
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by Jerry Byrne

Bank of America (BAC)

Bank of America on Monday won approval of a $150 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the Merrill Lynch merger, ending an embarrassing public battle between the largest U.S. bank and the nation's top securities regulator. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff on Monday approved the settlement but also lamented its deficiencies, calling it "half-baked justice at best." The settlement ends two lawsuits by the SEC against Bank of America. One alleged that the bank misled shareholders about $3.6 billion of bonuses that Merrill paid out. The other alleged that the bank misled shareholders about Merrill losses, which reached $15.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008. "Its greatest defect is that it advocates very modest punitive, compensatory and remedial measures that are neither directed at the specific individuals responsible for the nondisclosures nor appear likely to have more than a very modest impact on corporate practices or victim compensation," Rakoff wrote. "While better than nothing, this is half-baked justice at best." Had Rakoff rejected the settlement, a trial over the bonuses would have begun on March 1. The judge rejected a $33 million accord five months ago.
How cool is U.S. District Judge Rakoff? Not afraid to speak his mind & tell it like it is, "half-baked justice at it's best." Of course he's referring to the battle between the SEC and and BOA over the merger with Merrill. Just 5 months ago Rakoff refused to rubber stamp the paltry sum proposed by BOA and the SEC of $33 million.

Feb 22 · 11:18:00 AM · Source: CNBC
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by Jerry Byrne

Bank of America (BAC)

NEW YORK, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Banking and Markets President Tom Montag today announced that Sam Chapin and Todd Kaplan have been appointed executive vice chairmen of Global Banking, effective immediately. In these roles, Chapin and Kaplan will report to Montag and focus on deepening strategic client relationships and delivering the company's vast global resources on their behalf. Chapin will be based in New York, and Kaplan will be based in Chicago. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090812/CL60095LOGO ) "Sam and Todd are among the most widely respected investment bankers in the industry," said Montag. "Their decisions to rejoin Bank of America Merrill Lynch are a reflection of the tremendous momentum we have achieved as a combined company and global industry leader." Chapin, a 26-year Merrill Lynch veteran, served as a vice chairman and member of the executive client coverage group from 2003 to 2009, responsible for developing and coordinating senior corporate client relationships around the world. Prior to that, he was head of global investment banking from 2001 to 2003. He joined Merrill Lynch in 1984 as a member of the mergers and acquisitions group and was named a managing director in investment banking in 1993 and a senior vice president of the firm in 2001.
Ok, so is it just me? Is this a case of what’s wrong with this picture? Here you have Todd Kaplan & Sam Chapin, two veteran executives (Kaplan worked there 22 years) of Merrill Lynch, returning to the fold now that times are good (or at least a whole lot better) again. They both left when the bank was in turmoil shortly after the takeover by Bank of America. Kind of like jumping off a sinking ship wouldn’t you say? Now they want back on? Where is the loyalty? Where is that old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going? Well in this case they got going all right…..right out the front door. How about the guys who stuck around these past 14 months or so, who weathered the bad times, hung in there and stayed loyal to ‘Mother Merrill” as the company was lovingly referred to as for many years. Do you think they are happy to see Kaplan & Chapin return now that Wall St. is back on it’s feet. Call me old school, but I just don’t think it was the right thing to do bringing them back.

Feb 22 · 9:51:00 AM · Source: Company Press Release
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by Jerry Byrne

U.S. Bancorp (USB)

U.S. Bank is launching Deposit Express, a remote deposit capture offering specifically designed to meet the unique banking needs of small businesses. Deposit Express allows small businesses to scan and deposit checks to their U.S. Bank account from the convenience of their office, using a PC and a desktop scanner.
This expands U.S. Bank's existing suite of remote deposit products.

Feb 19 · 2:20:00 PM · Source: Company Press Release
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by Larry Etter

Bank of America (BAC)

Bank of America today announced organizational changes to its Global Wealth and Investment Management (GWIM) division designed to support the growth of its investment and retirement businesses and to deepen leadership in areas identified as being among its greatest strategic opportunities. Kunal Kamlani will join the company as managing director and head of Global Investment Solutions (GIS). Chris Dupuy will become head of Institutional Investments and Philanthropic Solutions.

Feb 19 · 2:12:00 PM · Source: Company Press Release
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by Larry Etter

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