Marketwatch – The IRS last week reached an agreement with the Swiss government and UBS AG that will result in thousands of Americans who thought they had a secret Swiss bank account having their names and account details turned over to U.S. tax authorities.

Former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld was sentenced to 40 months incarceration on Friday after he pleaded guilty to defrauding the United States. Birkenfeld admitted to advising U.S. clients to place cash and valuables in Swiss safety deposit boxes, destroy off-shore banking records and file false U.S. income tax returns, among other frauds.

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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. plummeted on Tuesday amidst increasing investor concerns over the bank’s ability to raise capital.  The stock dropped 45 percent to $7.79 in early afternoon trading, marking the lowest level in more than decade for the company that has been pummeled by the credit crisis.

Lehman is expected to announce their third-quarter results on September 18.  They were hoping to avoid another quarter of sharp losses, after having written down over $8.2 billion since last summer. 

Some analysts are expecting Lehman to report losses up to $4 billion this quarter, with plenty more to come.  Lehman still has holds about $65 billion in mortgage-backed assets that are continuing to lose value as the subprime fallout trudges along. 

Hoping to quell a repeat of the Bear Stearns collapse, Legman has unsuccessfully tried to secure a major investor.  Talks with state-run Korea Development Bank ended yesterday due to rumored lack of progress. 

"Their talks had not developed to a serious level. There have been several investors who have been in discussions with Lehman other than us," said one Korean official.

Lehman has been in talks with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and the Carlyle Group in regards to buying parts of its real estate and asset-management units. 

Julie Scuderi
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Reuters – Blackstone and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co are each looking to buy parts of Lehman’s real estate and asset management units, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday, sparking a broad rebound in financial stocks.

The real estate unit of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, which includes property and some asset-backed securities, could be worth about $5 billion (2.8 billion pounds), the sources said.

Lehman shares jumped 5.3 percent after the Reuters report. That helped lift the S&P financial index , which had slipped earlier on Friday, by 1.8 percent.

"Lehman has been so shredded in terms of confidence that anything like this is something that can ignite a upward movement at any point," said Michael Holland, founder of money manager Holland & Co LLC.

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