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Reuters – Hedge funds that provided bankrupt U.S. auto parts maker Delphi with debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing are not getting access to the firm’s books, hindering their ability to make a takeover offer, the New York Post reported, citing a person familiar with the situation.
The lenders are led by hedge fund Elliott Associates, the paper said.
In case they do not get access to Delphi’s books soon, the lenders may approach the judge handling the bankruptcy case to intervene, a source told the paper.
24/7 Wall St. – Citigroup has gone to the Treasury to beg for bonuses for some of its most important traders, people who make the banks extraordinary amounts of money. The Treasury’s reaction will probably be that it wants to stay out of a fight with Congress and avoid negative public opinion and will turn the request down.
That would be a mistake.
Wall St.’s primary argument for keeping a high level of compensation for its best investment bankers and traders is that, if they leave, overall losses at banks could get worse. People can be profit centers. The most successful ones help offset the red ink created by the series of poor decisions that big financial firms made about mortgage-backed paper and commercial credit loans. It is easy to assess the value of the best traders by looking at a bank’s books.
DealBreaker.Com – Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are linking their lending to hedge funds to the market’s assessment of the credit worthiness of the investment banks. Morgan Stanley will reportedly evaluate the amount of leverage it will supply to hedge funds based on the price of its own credit insurance pricing. Goldman is said to be linking its willingness to provide loans to hedge funds based on its bond prices.
The report of both changes ran in the Financial Times. The changes would limit the ability of hedge funds to borrow from either firm if borrowing by Morgan and Goldman became too expensive, indicating a lack of market confidence in the financial health of the firms.
In one sense, this seems a practical response to volatility in the credit markets, reducing exposure to hedge fund leverage as credit markets for financial companies become unsettled. It does, however, create a self-serving dynamic for the investment banks. If hedge funds taking the view that the companies have become unstable push up CDS or bond yields on the firms, they may find themselves unable to borrow from the firms. In other words, it gives the hedge funds an incentive not to bet against Goldman and Morgan.
Boston Globe- Dozens of hedge funds and broker-dealers are scrambling to send reams of e-mails and trading records to regulators probing suspected stock price manipulation, several sources at hedge funds said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently sent subpoenas to more than 50 firms concerning trading in investment banks Bear Stearns, which was rescued in March, and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., whose shares have been hurt badly by rumors about its financial health, said four sources, who have seen the documents but were not authorized to speak about them publicly.
Among those receiving subpoenas were investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and prominent hedge fund firms SAC Capital Advisors LLC and Citadel Investment Group.
