"...equity sales received 20% of their expected commissions for 4q07,
everyone super-pissed and polishing CVs. Also, people with guarantees who were laid off received only $5k due to an out clause in the employment contracts."
*Apparently a gaggle of conspiracy theorists take pains to label Bank of America "BoA" (rather than B of A) because of the reptilian connotation associated with the former. It seems there is even an official policy on the proper acronymizing of the winding, carnivorous, cold-blooded financial institution. I guess certain higher-ups at the Bank absolutely fly off the handle if you provoke them this way. Since we are endlessly amused by the idea that the senior management can be distracted from returning to profitability this way, won't you join us in adding "BoA" to your iPhone auto-correct for "B of A" and "Bank of America"? (Right after you join us in shorting their stock.) K? K.
Is Bank of America’s acquisition of Countrywide in trouble? You wouldn’t think so if you’re looking at the spread between where the shares of the two companies are trading. The spread between the shares and the offering price has narrowed dramatically in the last few days, from a high of nearly 25% to the current 15% gap.
But today the Monaco-based hedge fund SRM Global Fund filed a 13D complaining that the merger plan does not deliver “sufficient value” to Countrywide shareholders. SRM has acquired a 5.19% stake in Countrywide.
Most commentary on the deal has focused on whether Bank of America might back out. It has been described as a “bailout” and Bank of America’s role as that of a “White Knight.” The idea that Countrywide’s shareholders would balk at the deal comes as a surprise.
SRM seems to specialize in troubled home lenders. They also have a major stake in Northern Rock.
Citadel is often described as an investment bank masquerading as a hedge fund. And it looks like it may be moving even further in the direction of becoming a full-fledged investment bank. This morning Roddy Boyd and Zach Kouwe report for the New York Post that Citadel is in talks to buy Bank of America's prime brokerage business.
It's not surprise that Bank of America wants to get out of its investment banking business. Ken Lewis made that clear earlier this year, and BofA has been shedding senior bankers ever since. According to the Post, both the head of the prime brokerage unit and the head of its fixed-income business have recently left.
But would hedge funds be comfortable putting their trades through with CItadel on the other end of the line? There is already resentment about the way some prime brokers take positions conflicting with those of their clients. JP Morgan has been sued by Amaranth over such conflicts and there are perennial complaints about Goldman Sachs. Still, both JP Morgan and Goldman make good coin with their prime brokerage business, so the talk about conflicts hasn't hurt them.
Still, there a plenty of folks who are suspicious of anything those boys with the white boards over at Citadel do. They have proven eerily apt at turning positions that ruin competitors into money makers. One hedge fund manager we spoke with this morning laughed out loud when we asked if he would run his trades through Citadel.
"Then again, they seem to know my positions and strategy anyway. So why not? Maybe they'll accidentally tip me off," he said.
A quick follow-up to this morning's story about the Columbia asset management fund. It is saying that it is closing its enhanced, private-placement money-market fund but that investors are being offered the option of cash redemptions or of switching their assets into other Columbia-managed funds. Because what are the odds that two funds would go down at the same place?
CNBC online editor Charlie Gasparino is reporting that his sources tell him that that Bank of American has frozen a money market fund tailored towards institutional investors.
The fund is called the Colombia Strategic Cash Portfolio. Apparently Bank of America has sent a letter to investors notifying them that the fund will no longer take subscriptions or redemptions. The fund is invested in debt securities that are caught up in the crunch. He says Bank of America has not yet confirmed the story.
Update: And now they have. Gasparino says Bank of America confirms the story of the fund freeze. Anyone know who has money caught up in this fund?
Update: Both CNBC and our commenters report that it's not a straight money-market fund but a fund intended to achieve money-market type results. It's heavily invested in SIV paper, we're told. Where's that MLEC thing when you need it?
Tonight’s parties are Citi at Paramount Bar (6 pm), BNP Paribas at South Street Seaport (7 pm), Jay Goldman & Co. (7:30 pm) at Del Posto, and Choice Energy at Bruno Jamais (5:30 pm) but WAY MORE IMPORTANTLY: SAC Capital in a tent behind the Stamford headquarters. We really feel like we should go but Jesus fucking Christ, Stamford? Additionally we don’t want go make the trek by ourselves and our roommate can’t go, even though we impressed upon her that this party is more or less her Everest. (The weak excuse? Tonight she has a date and afterwards will be knee-deep in planning her "big birthday orgy. Entry fee is waived for anyone who can prove yearly net income over $500,000. Oh, and Anal_yst is invited. And that guy from Hamilton.”)
In other news, the Lehman review:
“fid got off to a slow start. equities got started fast, then got too drunk to keep going. admins danced until the music died. damn dj. and then it emptied out to the after parties. fid was starting up at around 8 but then died fast too. everyone's nervous about bonuses. equities thinks they're gonna subsidize fid. fid is resigned to their fate. oh and no live band this year.”
We might give Citigroup a lot of shit for being the world's crappiest bank but that's just our way of showing affection. Because in truth, most days we really love Citi, today being no exception. Even though it has no CEO, no wiling candidates for CEO, no money, no women, no prospects, no action and no conceivable reasons at all for even getting up in the morning, Citigroup was reportedly downright offended to get a call from a prominent investment banker suggesting that perhaps it'd like to merge with Bank of America. Us? the world's crappiest bank, merge with Bank of America? Where the hell do you get off even thinking something like that? The board apparently called the approach (to say nothing of the actual proposition) "totally out of hand" and then looked around at its buddies as if to say, "You believe this guy?"
“Not so fast,” Bank of America said today to a bunch of analysts, who were hilariously projecting that the bank will earn $1.12/share in the fourth quarter, when it announced a $3 billion pretax loss stemming from standing in front of collateralized debt obligations for too long. Chief Financial Officer Joe Price cautioned that while 3 is the number we’re hearing now, the sky’s really the limit in terms of how much more money the bank could lose before last call, which is why more money has been set aside for other potential fuckups. ``Where valuations will be at the end of the year is anyone's guess given these variables,'' Price said at a Merrill Lynch & Co. banking and financial services conference, still stifling laughter over the idea of BoA not being a huge embarrassment to itself. Giggles aside, he was being dead serious-- whoever estimates Bank of America's fourth-quarter losses closest without going over will win an unpaid apprentice position with Deutsche Bank's Mike Mayo, and another date with John Carney (you're still paying).
He may be in charge of the firm who’s investment banking unit recently reported a 93 percent decline for the third quarter and a 32 percent decrease in overall net income, but Ken Lewis still cannot claim the title of biggestfuckup on Wall Street and for that, he deserves a prize—the finest E money can buy, courtesy of James Cayne (who actually prefers the love drug to weed, a little kernel of truth the Journal somehow glaringly left out this morning). Lewis is also being honored by the British-American Business Council with its Transatlantic Business Award this evening, according to DealBook, for his “outstanding leadership in advancement of the trans-Atlantic partnership.” Having obtained part of KL’s acceptance speech, the ‘Bookies note that the BoA CEO is expected to tout the firm’s investment banking arm, and give no indication of a retreat in that unit. Sort of surprising, since the last time we heard from Special K (his d of choice), he said investment banking just wasn’t as “fun” as it used to be, and, to the naked eye, washed his hands of the whole operation. Apparently, not so! You think this means the fired employees from Banc of America Securities are going to be rehired? Let us know.
Christopher Pesce, the global head of prime brokerage at BoA Securities, has apparently quit his job for greener pastures. We don’t know which pastures, just that they’re better. Since he’s coming from Banc of America, there are almost too many to choose from. Perhaps the minions he was instrumental in getting fired might know of his whereabouts? If one among you hasn't yet had your internet access cut off, get in touch.
500 laid off from structured finance and investment banking today. Severance has been paid, but no numbers on how much yet. We're going to go out on a limb and say more than Bear Stearns. Prove us right (or wrong, though that's highly unlikely).
Kinkos Employee, Who Heard About BoA’s Third Quarter: You want me to print up some new materials to more accurately reflect your position in the i-banking game? “Best Global Bank” is kind of misleading. And “opportunities”? That’s just an outright lie.
BoA Head of On-Campus Recruiting: No, Kinkos Employee, it’s neither misleading nor a lie. Where else can you “Eat dinner with other analysts and associates, pay bills online, and put together a memo to the firm regarding a fixed income transaction that we priced today for a subsidiary of a $10 billion market cap industrial giant…every day”?
(It kind of seems like we have it out for Bank of America today, but this last one affected the children, and we would've been remiss not to mention it. Plus, we're junkies for this stuff and couldn't stop ourselves even if we wanted to. Additionally, Sandy Weill won't stop pressuring us via IMs (DaSandMan2000, FYI) to "write enough damning shit about BoA to drive the stock price down enough that I might buy it in cash and combine it with Citi and create the biggest bank in the world, BY FAR. Of course, this will necessitate me pushing out Prince first, but, heh, let's be honest, that shouldn't be too hard." Anyway, we're going to try really hard to make this the last BoA post of the day, mostly because we've devoted barely any time hating on Merrill.)
Those sound a bit rich, even for the employed first-year bankers in the BoA family.
Just thinking aloud for a second, but is it possible that the fact that “order[ing] dinner” is the only task accomplished between the hours of 6 and 7 p.m. on a typical day by your average Bank of America investment banker contributed to the bank’s Q3 results?
Day in the Life (For some reason, you can't go directly to the DITL page, presumably because the Webmaster is updating it to more accurately reflect what kind of stuff someone from the BoA team might be up to during a typical 9-5. For those interested: U.S. full-time analysts --> Investment Banking and Capital Markets --> Day in the Life.) [Bank of America]
Incidentally, this Nalgene, promoting the career section on BoA's website, was recently delivered to the office. Nice to know they haven’t lost their sense of humor and nice for us, ‘cause ours was getting that funky smell all 'genes get after a while, and needed to be replaced. (Ken Lewis knows what we're talking about.)
When profits in investment banking fall an astounding 93 percent to $100 million, which is less than what the cast of Friends made in the show's final season, it's time to cut your losses and run. So Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis is taking the wisdom of a bum who yelled at him, "You should just give up," from across the street on the way into the office yesterday, and has decided to shutter Bank of America. The whole thing. Even the ATMs and the shitty, shitty online banking operation. I'm kidding! What's scary is, I could be dead serious. It would be shocking, yes, but would it really be *that* shocking? Say what you want, but the answer's "no."
Anyway, as you know, BoA is firing 3,000 of its employees, mostly from the essentially-non-performing investment banking sector, replacing a "retiring" Gene Taylor with Brian Moynihan as president of global corporate and investment banking (whose position as head of wealth management will be filled by Keith Banks, currently running the Columbia Management mutal fund arm), and-- and this seems wise-- reevaluating its goal of boosting corporate and investment banking profit by 70 percent and revenue by 50 percent within the next five years (Moynihan called it "a reshaping of the business to meet...reality"). On another note, the Journal recalls that Ken Lewis and Gene Taylor were once part of a "brash, aggressive group of bankers known as the "Florida mafia." Marinade on that, then we'll discuss the changes afoot at $8.4-billion-writedown-shop Merrill. I don't want to spoil the surprise so I'll just say that it has to do with talk of an even more Fascist sick-day policy.
A failed investment banker, of course. Meet Lauren O’Bryan, an erstwhile Citi employee now dabbling in leisure and unemployment. She’s this week’s “Look Book” subject. Pay attention, for this one may be more sagacious than Chuck Prince ever gave her credit for. Or less. It’s one of those two things. Let’s hear what she had to say.
Update: Yep. It's over. This post has the honor of almost certainly being the last thing ever published on this deal before the world learned that it wasn't happening. That's special.
That’s what folks are wondering today. Now that First Data has closed and Harman International Industries and Genesco have fallen apart, eyes are on Sallie Mae. Which way will it go? Will the buyers call a MAC and bail on the deal?
The MAC speculation arises from legislation Congress passed this summer that expands financial aid to students while cutting back on subsidies to student loan lenders. But the odds of the deal falling apart went way up this morning when Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis made comments that seemed to indicate that the legal changes were causing the buyers to re-evaluate the price they agreed to pay for Sallie Mae.
"We obviously have seen the change in the (education lending) laws. We are trying to assess the impact that might have on the price," Lewis told the Charlotte Observer. Bank of America part of a group of investors led by buyout firm J.C. Flowers & Co. that agreed in April to by Sallie Mae.
Things could get ugly. If the buyers do call a MAC, the sellers may well sue. This morning’s Deal Journal outlines the legal argument that Sallie Mae might make if the buyers tried to walk away. “At stake is the $900 million reverse break-up fee the buyers are on the hook for if they want to walk and can’t prove a MAC,” Deal Journal writes.
Bank of America, the #2 bank in the U.S. by market value, reported a subprime-loss free net income gain of 5% over the same period last year to $5.76 billion, up 9 cents a share. Net income of $1.28 a share beat analyst estimates by 8 cents. The bank's revenue jumped 7.4% to $19.56 billion, beating analyst estimates by about $1 billion.
Bank of America is the same story, different bank with regards to the drivers of Q2 earnings. Throughout the banking sector, strong capital markets (driven by investment banking) and wealth management results drove earnings during the quarter, tempered by weakness in retail and credit cards. Bank of America's wealth management unit is poised to continue its strong growth with the Q2 acquisition of U.S. Trust from Charles Schwab.
Bank of America doesn't have much exposure to the subprime market because it doesn't directly serve the segment. Instead, the bank takes more of a hit from personal delinquencies in its credit card unit.
It’s Second-Quarter Earnings Results Week (hi-ooo) and Bank of America is poised to disappoint a lot of shareholders as a result of its insistence on doing business almost exclusively in ‘Merica. (Yes, B of A spreads the love in 45 countries but derives only 13% of its revenue from abroad). Analysts estimate that the Bank in America will report a 2% drop in profit, its first decline in 2005. Citigroup, which is among the biggest banks in Mexico, Poland and South Korea and gets nearly half of its sales from abroad, is expected to post an increase of 7.7%. JP Morgan, deriving twenty five percent of revenue from outside the U.S., is predicted to be up 6.4%.
Responding to allegations that B of A has dug its own grave by taking its name too literally (and that it’s not necessarily a great idea to put all your eggs in the ‘Merican basket when the domestic economic has been “growing at sub-3 percent”), CEO Kenneth Lewis offered: “We do better when we play to our strengths, and our strengths are in the U.S.”
Yesterday we mentioned that we heard through the Streetvine that BoA was paying a bunch of analyst recruits $50k to defer BoA employment for a year. We wondered if there was something BoA wasn't telling us, and if the move is an indication that entry level hiring across the Street is contracting.
It turns out, according to some BoA folk, most of the deferrment offers are due to space limitations at 9 W 57th. These limitations will be solved by the new Bryant Park building, but that won't open for at least another year or two. What ended up happening - a fair chunk of the incoming BoA analyst class (around 30-40 people) was offered relocation to a non-NYC BoA office. The people who didn't want to relocate got $50k to start up in NYC next year.
How does BoA overestimate its entry level capacity by that many people? Were they expecting that much more end of year attrition? Did they hire a bunch of sadists over the past several years who mostly decided to stay in banking?
The paring down of personnel on trading desks across the Street has been well documented over the past year. Are I-banking analysts next? We've just heard that Bank of America is paying at least 18 analyst recruits from this year $50k to take a hike and come back next year. Is this a sign of an impending "healthy correction" in the entry level job market on Wall Street or isolated to BoA? Regardless, $50k is a pretty sweet deal in our opinion. That's a good non-financial entry level job in Manhattan. Or, better yet, a super sweet share our east within walking distance to the beach.
The price of agony deferral has more than doubled in the past 5 years. The last time this happened to bulge bracket firms was after the bubble burst in 2001, when JPMorgan (we believe other banks did the same), gave analysts $20k to defer full-time ankle holding for a year.
Accenture did the same thing (when it was trying to distance itself from Enron-smacked Arthur Andersen) with a bevy of 2001/2002 consultant recruits, but only paid $10k and didn't end up taking several of the people back at the end of the year.
If anyone has any more stories about (or more info on) paid employment deferrals, or how you spent deferral money to go on an incredible trip to Southeast Asia while we were toiling away at our desks, please share, post racy photos, or send to: tips at dealbreaker dot com.
Bank of America just confirmed that last week its Global Equities division experienced a "realignment," in which it fired 30 associates (pictured). Granted this represents a small fraction of BoA's Global Markets division and most banks are quick to tell you about growing overall headcounts in the face of layoffs but the move represents a displacement of many high value (and high costing) employees and continues the trader layoff bonanza across the Street.
The BoA 30 will stand united in the face of the 17,000 strong from Citi. While it is said that the forces from Citi can send recruiter email spam that can blot out an email account, the BoA 30 will recruit in the shade (of Monstertrak). Tonight they dine in Hell ('s Kitchen)!
Will reinforcements arrive (i.e. - Is a larger BoA exodus forthcoming)?
Amidst rumors of significant layoffs in institutional equity sales and trading last week (can anyone confirm?: email - tips at dealbreaker dot com), some BoA employees still get to walk out of the door voluntarily to hop on the ‘I can start a hedge fund’ train. Bank of America CIO Ian Banwell (Arthur) is taking fellow BoA execs Bob Miller (Lancelot) in the corporate investments group Jason Osier (Guenevere) from equities to start Round Table Investment Management, which will employ “research-based investing with quantitative and macro-based strategies” (its strategy is to employ all strategies, chivalrously). While not exactly a hedge fund, several of the laid-off BoA traders are forming a ZogSports Kickball team which will inevitably have a ridiculously intense pitcher who will try to ‘work the count’ against remotely athletic people and actively call in the outfield when girls are up.
Maybe we should start a list of who is not suing ABN Amro. This morning Bank of America filed a lawsuit seeking a court order barring ABN from selling it's Chicago-based LaSalle unit to any other potential buyer or even from negotiating with anyone else, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Journal explains how this fits in with yesterday’s ruling by a Dutch court halting the sale of La Salle to Bank of America:
The suit follows a ruling Thursday by a Dutch court, ordering ABN to halt the sale of LaSalle until shareholders can vote on it. ABN agreed to the sale to buttress its agreement to be taken over by Britain's Barclays PLC for $89.9 billion in stock, in what would be the world's largest banking deal.
The Dutch court's ruling could benefit a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, which is planning to make a competing bid for ABN as well as a rival bid for LaSalle, a key asset that RBC wants.
In addition to seeking an injunction against ABN, the suit claims monetary damages.
A legal expert we spoke with (who requested we not use his name since we won't pay his fees) said that ABN might welcome the Bank of America suit since it could relieve LaSalle of the duty to keep negotiating with other buyers.
The deal announced this morning to take Sallie Mae private could point to a new era of leveraged buyouts in a segment of the market long-considered off-limits to the buyout rush—the financial services sector. One of the strongest objections to proposed private equity takeovers in the financial sector has been skepticism that it would be possible to borrow enough money to finance a takeout of an already highly-levered financial company. But student loan lender Sallie Mae supports a tremendous amount of debt, and yet the deal announced today includes a plan to layer on even more debt.
“The company has about $116.14 billion of total assets, supported by $4.4 billion of stockholders' equity, making it a highly leveraged entity already,” Reuters reporter Dan Wilchins noted on Friday. “Some corporate bond investors questioned how a leveraged buyout of Sallie Mae would work.”
The dealmakers who put together the Salle Mae buyout, however, have apparently found a way to work. In addition to two large private equity firms, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America are taking large equity stakes in Sallie Mae. Both banks have apparently committed to providing financing for the transaction, as well as ongoing liquidity to finance the companies operations.
We may be looking a whole new era of private equity deals in the financial services sector. Last week we reported that financial writer Felix Salmon was proposing a private equity take-out of Goldman Sachs. Many readers objected that it would be impossible to finance a leveraged buyout of Goldman Sachs because the company is already so highly levered, an opinion that was widely shared on Wall Street. This morning’s Sallie Mae deal may mark a change in that thinking.
Negotiators Say Sallie Mae to Be Sold for $25 Billion [New York Times] Investor group to buy Sallie Mae for $25 Billion [Press Release from Sallie Mae]
It’s down to crunch time on the auction for Chrysler and major private equity firms have lined up their bankers to support their buyout proposals, according to a report this morning from the Detroit News. Blackstone and Centerbridge—who are working together—have Bank of America, Lazard and Lehman Brothers in their corner. Meanwhile, Cerberus Capital Management LLC, is said to have recruited Goldman Sachs Group.
The General Motors bid, reportedly made way back in January, appears to have set off the star Chrysler sell off but to have been too skimpy to be seriously considered. All GM offered was 10 percent of its equity, no cash, and a requirement that DaimlerChyrsler pay GM $1 billion.
Six weeks ago we pointed out that GM seemed unlikely to pick-up Chrysler for this very reason
Another problem: GM boss Rick Wagoner is a tightwad. Remember the outsized dowry he and the GM board demanded from Ghosn when they considered the combination with Nissan-Renault? How much would GM pay up for Chrysler? When we called one of our banker friends to ask for a valuation on what GM might pay for Chrysler, he joked that GM might ask Daimler to pay them to take it off their hands.
No love over at Bank of America on this made up amorous holiday, where 43 specialists and clerks have been laid off (unless they consider unemployment a powerful aphrodisiac—which it very well might be—and are merely trying to do what they can for the love lives of erstwhile employees). A spokesperson for B o’ A told the Post that the axings occurred because of the number of the Big Board’s stocks “available to have buyers and sellers matched up through the Hybrid trading system" (and, off the record, that "the 43 should consider themselves lucky to have been kept on this long, since everyone knows that hybrid stands for 'have your bags ready in december,' and we let them stay on until February"). The Post also reports that some legal "messiness" is also on the horizon:
Yesterday…former BAS CEO Christopher Quick was deposed as part of a civil arbitration between a former BAS clerk and the firm. The arbitration, sources told The Post, at least partly centers on the firm's dismissal of a clerk who was said to be highly critical of the firm's handling of allegations of illegal market-making.
Also, the Securities and Exchange Commission has signaled that BAS' former executives, including Quick and Myles Gillespie, are not out of the woods. Gillespie, the former head of BAS predecessor Fleet Specialists, was tagged last week for failing to supervise former Fleet and BAS star specialist David Finnerty, who was convicted in October of illegal trading.
Bank of America's Chief Financial Officier, Alvaro de Molina, will resign at the end of the year, DealBook reports, finding his 16-month old job "suffocating," etc.
“The role of the C.F.O. and the C.E.O. are not as fun as they used to be from a regulatory standpoint, but the C.E.O. gets to run the show,” he said. “The C.F.O. of a well-run company gets all of the guts but none of the glory.”
But does de Molina's exit have anything to do with greener pastures elsewhere, perhaps?
When asked about a possible job as an executive at Citigroup, he told The Times: “The last I checked they had their management team intact and a very capable” executives. But when pressed, he added, “I am not ruling anything out.”
Yeah, well, it made Universal Music Publish Group cringe too. Last week a lawyer for Universal, which is the catalog owner and administrator for the song, posted a cease and desist letter in the comments section of the music blog Stereogum. But far from ceasing and desisting, the BofA song has found new life in the comedy of David Cross. The video above shows Cross performing the song at the Comix comedy club a couple of weeks ago. And this morning Stereogum posted another video of Cross performing the song along with Modest Mouse's Johnny Marr at the Bowery Ballroom.
After the jump, we bring you the c&d from Universal's lawyer.
Yesterday CNBC’s Charlie Gasparino broke the news that the CEO of Bank of America is looking to make a "transformational deal" by acquiring a brokerage or insurance company. Of course, everyone wants to be transformational, but no one really wants to pay for it. So how do you get transformation a cut-rate prices? Downgrade the industry!
That at least is a theory voiced by TickerSense today.
This morning we came in to see that the brokerage analyst for Bank of America lowered his estimates on the group. Skeptics may look at this and think that this analyst is only doing a little sucking up so he can get his boss a better price on an acquisition. We’ll hold off for now, but if their insurance analyst lowers his EPS forecasts for that group in the next few days, then we’ll get suspicious.
So the second largest bank in the U.S. is going all treehugger. Now call us skeptics but this raised a few questions around the DealBreaker HQ. Or, if you work for Bank of America, just call us back. We couldn't get anyone on the line to answer our questions this afternoon.
Excerpts from CNN's coverage of the announcment, with DealBreaker's questions interrupting.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Bank of America announced it will reimburse $3,000 to many of its employees who buy a new hybrid vehicle.
DealBreaker Asks: Was this decision made before or after the President appointed a treehugger as Treasury Secretary? When exactly did BofA decide to put the word out that it is down with the Green?
The nation's No. 2 bank will make the rebates available to more than 21,000 employees who live within 90 miles of Boston, Charlotte, and Los Angeles. The bank's main headquarters is in Charlotte.
DealBreaker Asks: Where does the Bank of America Auto Group do a lot of hybrid lending? Where does has BofA financed hybrid-selling dealerships?
"Given the size of our commuting associate base, the hybrid program expands our commitment to the environment and helps our associates to participate in making a difference while cutting down on their commuting costs," said a statement from Anne Finucane, head of the company's environmental council. "We are pleased to be one of the first corporations offering this benefit and strengthening our long-standing leadership on environmental issues."
DealBreaker Asks: How long until the Free Enterprise Action Fund is on the case here? BofA has an "environmental council?" Does it smell as much like patchouli as the environmental council did in college?
He may be in charge of the firm who’s investment banking unit recently reported a 93 percent decline for the third quarter and a 32 percent decrease in overall net income, but Ken Lewis still cannot claim the title of 
A failed investment banker, of course. Meet Lauren O’Bryan, an erstwhile Citi employee now dabbling in leisure and unemployment. She’s this week’s “
Update: Yep.
It’s Second-Quarter Earnings Results Week (hi-ooo) and Bank of America is poised to disappoint a lot of shareholders as a result of its insistence on doing business almost exclusively in ‘Merica. (Yes, B of A spreads the love in 45 countries but derives only 13% of its revenue from abroad). Analysts estimate that the Bank in America will report a 2% drop in profit, its first decline in 2005. Citigroup, which is among the biggest banks in Mexico, Poland and South Korea and gets nearly half of its sales from abroad, is expected to post an increase of 7.7%. JP Morgan, deriving twenty five percent of revenue from outside the U.S., is predicted to be up 6.4%. 
The paring down of personnel on trading desks across the Street has been well documented over the past year. Are I-banking analysts next? We've just heard that Bank of America is paying at least 18 analyst recruits from this year $50k to take a hike and come back next year. Is this a sign of an impending "healthy correction" in the entry level job market on Wall Street or isolated to BoA? Regardless, $50k is a pretty sweet deal in our opinion. That's a good non-financial entry level job in Manhattan. Or, better yet, a super sweet share our east within walking distance to the beach.
Maybe we should start a list of who is not suing ABN Amro. This morning Bank of America filed a lawsuit seeking a court order barring ABN from selling it's Chicago-based LaSalle unit to any other potential buyer or even from negotiating with anyone else, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The deal announced this morning to take Sallie Mae private could point to a new era of leveraged buyouts in a segment of the market long-considered off-limits to the buyout rush—the financial services sector. One of the strongest objections to proposed private equity takeovers in the financial sector has been skepticism that it would be possible to borrow enough money to finance a takeout of an already highly-levered financial company. But student loan lender Sallie Mae supports a tremendous amount of debt, and yet the deal announced today includes a plan to layer on even more debt.
It’s down to crunch time on the auction for Chrysler and major private equity firms have lined up their bankers to support their buyout proposals, according to a report this morning from the Detroit News. Blackstone and Centerbridge—who are working together—have Bank of America, Lazard and Lehman Brothers in their corner. Meanwhile, Cerberus Capital Management LLC, is said to have recruited Goldman Sachs Group. 
No love over at Bank of America on this 
So the second largest bank in the U.S. is going all treehugger. Now call us skeptics but this raised a few questions around the DealBreaker HQ. Or, if you work for Bank of America, just call us back. We couldn't get anyone on the line to answer our questions this afternoon.