Wasserstein's Death Triggers $188M Payout

Swiss bank's shares dive after unauthorized trading revealed

(NEWSER) - A rogue trader at UBS has lost around $2 billion, the Swiss banking giant says. The unauthorized trades by a trader in its investment banking unit "could lead UBS to report a loss for the third quarter of 2011," but "no client positions were affected," the bank said in a statement that offered few other details. Shares in UBS dived almost 10% in early trading after the announcement, which arrived on the third anniversary of Lehman Brothers' declaration of bankruptcy, the Guardian notes. More»

Year-end payout breaks down to $300-$500K per employee

(NEWSER) - Bank of America will pay a total of $4 billion to its traders and investment bankers for their work in 2009—or something between $300,000 and $500,000 per employee. That means those responsible for the bank’s $23 billion haul in those sectors will receive about 19% of the profit. Roughly 25% of the payout will be in cash, with the rest in deferred restricted stock or cash depending on the bank’s future performance. More»

Former Fed chief blasts them on pay, 'innovation'

(NEWSER) - Former Fed chair Paul Volcker had some harsh words for international bankers and regulators about the poor practices that led to the global financial crisis—and continue to this day. Volcker, who advises President Obama, surprised a forum in Britain with this broadside on pay: “Has there been one financial leader to say this is really excessive? Wake up, gentlemen. Your response, I can only say, has been inadequate.” More»

(AP) - Bruce Wasserstein, the CEO of Lazard Ltd. and one of Wall Street's most prominent dealmakers, is dead at 61. He had been hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat on Sunday. Wasserstein had been a fixture on Wall Street since the 1980s. He worked on such landmark deals as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts' takeover of RJR Nabisco, and the Morgan Stanley-Dean Witter and AOL-Time Warner mergers. More»

(NEWSER) - Citigroup will raise salaries for investment bankers and traders as much as 50% to offset a steep falloff in bonus pay and keep the company’s compensation package competitive, Bloomberg reports. Other employees, like those in the consumer banking section, will receive smaller raises. Citi, which took $45 billion in federal bailout funds, also plans to offer its employees stock options to keep them on. More»