New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Financial institutions that have received generous assistance from Congress may be forced to restrict executive compensation and their dividends, if Barack Obama and his new Treasury have their way.

“Those receiving exceptional assistance will be subject to tough but sensible conditions that limit executive compensation until taxpayer money is paid back,” said Larry Summers, who Obama chose to head the White House National Economic Council.  He also said they would ban dividend payments beyond the minimum amounts while putting limits on stock buybacks.

Obama has expressed his disappointment with the current administration and the lax oversight in doling out the first $350 billion of the bailout, along with failing to focus on areas like housing and consumer credit.   Summers tackled the subject in a letter to Congress yesterday that outlined the issues Obama supports in distributing the other half of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Summers told Congress that the President-elect believes there has been “too little transparency and accountability,” among the financial institutions.  In addition, Obama believes the executives acted irresponsibly and did not provide enough support for small-businesses owners.  Small businesses and community banks are where more of the money needs to be directed, Obama says.

In addition, he wants to provide help to struggling homeowners in order to avoid foreclosure, along with providing enhanced oversight of the relief program which includes public accounting to see how the money is being spent.

The House of Representatives will vote on a proposal this week that include some of the restrictions outlined by Summers.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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Tags: accredited-investors, bailout, barack obama, businesses owners, community banks, consumer credit, current administration, dividend payments, dividends, executive compensation, financial-institutions, generous assistance, hedgeco, larry summers, lax oversight, national economic council, president elect, stock-buybacks, taxpayer money

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net)- Hedge fund manager Pali Capital has hired M&A veteran Randal V. Stephenson as a Senior Managing Director and Head of its new Corporate Advisory Group.

"Pali is in the midst of a major, global expansion,” said Brad Reifler, to whom Stephenson will report, "Since we are committed to providing world-class investment banking products and services, we see Randal as a vital part of our plan to build out a competitive mergers and acquisitions practice on a global scale. Randal has the right mix of skills and experience, and we look forward to working with him."

Stephenson will be based in New York and will lead the build-out of a mergers, acquisitions and corporate advisory practice to compliment a broader investment banking platform.

"Pali’s core clients, hedge fund, are among the most active in the global deal market," said Mr. Stephenson, "and are eagerly searching for new opportunities to apply capital and achieve enhanced investor returns. I look forward to helping Pali build a world-class mergers and acquisitions practice that should have no equal in the middle market."

Mr. Stephenson is assembling a team of seasoned bankers with experience in distressed and special situation transactions, as well as cross-border M&A deal experience, particularly in Asia. The team’s services for Pali’s core client base of hedge funds and institutional investors include originating distressed and special-situation opportunities for equity or debt investment, helping funds seek strategic alternatives for underperforming portfolio investments, and assisting and advising in shareholder activism.

Prior to Pali, Stephenson was the Head of Middle Market Mergers & Acquisitions and the Head of Distressed & Special Situations M&A at CIT Group, Inc. Stephenson is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the bars of Massachusetts and New York.

Pali is an independent, global, full-service institutional securities firm and investment bank that has served leading hedge funds and money managers since 1995. The hedge fund manager is headquartered in New York, with offices in London, Singapore, Boston and Minneapolis.

Alex Akesson
Editor for HedgeCo LLC
Email: alex@hedgeco.net

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Tags: boston, founding-partners, investment-platform, john-studzinski, sam-zell, smith-report, stock-buybacks