New York Post – The JPMorgan Chase CEO is seeing the coffers of the bank he runs being filled with "billions of dollars a day" coming from hedge funds that have pulled their cash from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, according to several large hedge-fund managers and other Wall Street sources.

The flood of new business has actually caused a bottleneck at the banking giant, as the prime brokerage unit scrambles to quickly conduct due diligence and credit checks to set up new clients, a source close to the bank said.

Most of JPMorgan’s new clients are being serviced through the old Bear Stearns prime brokerage force, which was a key part of Dimon’s acquisition of the fallen brokerage firm.

A spokesman for JPMorgan confirmed that the bank has seen a significant jump in volume and "they are managing it well."

He also said the bank is maintaining firm due diligence and credit-review procedures.

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Globe and Mail – Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. is claiming a victory in a long-running legal battle with U.S. hedge funds after brokerage firm Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. revealed on Wednesday it has fired an analyst embroiled in a dispute with Fairfax.

Morgan Keegan confirmed it fired analyst John Gwynn last month for giving a report on Fairfax to some clients before it was published.

Fairfax has sued Morgan Keegan, based in Memphis, Tenn., and a group of U.S. hedge funds, alleging they worked together to damage Fairfax’s reputation and drive down its share price. Fairfax called it a “massive, illegal and continuing scheme that has targeted and severely harmed Fairfax.”

One of Fairfax’s claims in the suit is an allegation that Mr. Gwynn told hedge funds about negative reports before he issued them publicly, allowing hedge funds to short-sell Fairfax’s stock and profit after the news was released.

Toronto-based Fairfax has particularly pointed to Mr. Gwynn’s first report on the company, published Jan. 16, 2003, which said the company had a shortfall in its reserves. The company’s share price fell 28 per cent in the three days after the report was published.

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Reuters- South Korean broker Woori Investment & Securities said on Tuesday it will start a $100 million Asia-focused hedge fund in Singapore as part of plans to expand its business in Southeast Asia. Woori plans to boost revenue contribution from its overseas business to 20 percent in three years from five percent now, Joonho Hwang, chief financial officer of the Korean brokerage firm, told a news conference in Singapore.

The long/short hedge fund "Woori Absolute Partners" would likely start operations in July after an injection of $100 million from the parent.

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