Globe and Mail – HudBay Minerals Inc. chief executive officer Allen Palmiere tried to amend the terms of a controversial merger agreement with Lundin Mining Corp. after shareholders slammed the proposed transaction, according to court documents released by a hedge fund trying to oust Mr. Palmiere and the HudBay board.

Monaco-based SRM Global Master Fund LP, which owns 11 per cent of HudBay’s stock, said HudBay’s board of directors is “incapable of creating value and serving the best interest of shareholders,” in a filing with securities regulators Wednesday. The SRM circular calls HudBay’s ill-fated attempt to merge with Lundin a “slip-shod process” that included management-dominated negotiations and “neglect” by the HudBay board. It also includes an excerpt from a text message sent by Mr. Palmiere to Lundin’s CEO, Phil Wright, on Nov. 26, just five days after the deal to combine HudBay’s Manitoba zinc and copper operations with Lundin’s mines in Europe and Africa was announced.

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New York Post – With just two large investment banks remaining – Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs – questions are growing over who might step into the suddenly emptier playing field.

Many Wall Street watchers are pointing to the looming presence of large hedge funds and private-equity firms, which have been stealthily encroaching on many of Wall Street’s traditional lines of business for years now.

"I think the new Wall Street is not going to be on Wall Street," said Ferenc Sanderson, a hedge fund researcher at Thomson Reuters. "The headquarters of Citadel is in Chicago," he said.

Indeed, the $20 billion Citadel Investment Group is more often compared to Goldman these days.

Last year, Citadel branched into providing administrative and technical support to other hedge funds, not unlike the investment banks. Citadel also has a unit that executes trades for retail brokerages, akin to market makers like Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.

It’s a far cry from the small operation Ken Griffin had when he founded Citadel with a modest $1 million in trading money in 1990.

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