Disappeared Credit Suisse Banker Now Declared A Fugitive

The Wall Street Journal reports that a former Credit Suisse banker, charged with investing client funds in subprime mortgages linked to auction-rate securities without their permission, has not been seen in the US since May 9th, when he violated his bail conditions by leaving his New York home.

Ex-Credit Suisse trader Julian Tzolov, 36, was last week declared a fugitive from justice. He may have returned to his native Bulgaria. An arrest warrant was issued on May 11th. The US Attorney for the Eastern District said in a letter to the presiding judge that: 'Beginning on May 9th, and continuing thereafter, the government has undertaken an extensive effort to determine Tzolov's whereabouts and apprehend him'.

Tzolov has been free on $3m bail since his arrest last September. He was indicted along with former work colleague Eric Butler. Tzolov is said to have transfered around $2.3m outside the US in the last few months. A federal judge will decide this week whether to postpone the date of the trial. Jury selection was supposed to commence on June 22th.

In the meantime, CNBC reports that Bernstein Research has upgraded Goldman Sachs from 'market perform' to 'outperform' and raised Morgan Stanley's earnings forecast. Barclays Capital analyst Roger Freeman has also increased his second-quarter earnings-per-share estimates on both Goldman and Morgan Stanley.

Finally, Bloomberg reports that BlackRock is now thought to be in pole position to acquire Barclays Global Investors (BGI) from the UK bank in a deal that could reach $13bn. If agreement is reached (and it could be announced as early as this week), Barclays President Bob Diamond is expected to get a seat on the BlackRock board. The only serious rival to BlackRock for BGI appears to be Bank of New York Mellon, which is thought to be tabling a late bid.