Top Firm May Be On The Move
Reuters reports that the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has served a second subpoena on the Federal Reserve, seeking further details and documents related to Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch. And The Wall Street Journal reports that two more BofA directors have stepped down from the company board (taking the number to seven since April). Joseph Prueher and Tommy franks are the latest to stand aside.
CNBC reports that Rochdale Securities analyst Richard Bove has commenced his rating of Citi with a 'buy', instituting a price target of $4. Bove has suggested an ultimate target for the bank of $12 (when normal earnings return).
And Reuters also reports that JPMorgan Chase has confirmed it will take a $1.1bn charge in the second-quarter relating to its repayment of $25bn in TARP funding earlier this month. The firm also said that it paid over $795m in dividends on the preferred stock issued to the US government last fall.
The news agency also reports that Insight Investments, Lloyds Banking Group's third-party asset management unit, is being circled by a number of firms, including possibly Bank of New York Mellon, which recently lost out to BlackRock in its bid to acquire Barclays Global Investors.
Finally, The Wall Street Journal reports that Texas financier Sir Allen Stanford has been indicted with four others in connection with an alleged $7bn Ponzi scheme. If convicted, he could face a sentence of up to 250 years in prison.