The New York Times reports that Evercore Partners is having to seek the approval of a bankruptcy judge to get its General Motors advisory fee paid. Nothing strange there.

But, included in the filing that justifies the fee, is the astonishing fact that the firm had to compile more than 4,000 spreadsheets as it worked on restructuring the company (imagine all the junior 'grunts' needed to do that!). That's not to mention the 45,000 plus e-mails two senior bankers (or perhaps their secretaries) are said to have sent or received as they worked on the account in recent months!

The Financial Times reports that, according to unnamed 'people close to the situation', US regulators have 'forced Citigroup to hire external consultants to consider whether its current management is up to the job of leading the troubled bank out of the financial crisis'.

The newspaper says that its sources claim that the review (and recommendations) should be completed by the time Citi posts its third-quarter earnings in October.

And Reuters reports that 'a source close to the bank' has claimed that Andrew Hall, Citi's $100m-a-year commodities trader, will not have his contract reviewed by US pay Czar Kenneth Feinberg, as it was inked before the cut-off date of 11th February.

In the meantime, Bloomberg is reporting that, not only is Bernie Madoff a fraudster, but he is said to have cheated on his wife too! Whatever next ? A new book - 'Madoff's Other Secret: Love Money, Bernie, and Me', by Sheryl Weinstein, will be published later this month.

And The Financial Times reports that John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who earned billions shorting subprime, has now acquired a 2% stake in Bank of America. He is also said to have been busy buying shares in Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

Bloomberg reports that the US and Swiss governments have resolved their spat over a Justice Department lawsuit that seeks the release of the names of thousands US residents who are thought to have used UBS accounts to evade US taxes. The upshot is that the Swiss bank is expected to spill the beans and disclose details on thousands of clients.

Finally, the news agency also reports that WestLB is in 'intensive discussions' with Germany's Soffin bank-rescue fund to transfer 'non-strategic assets' off its balance sheet.

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