Report: Bank of America cuts could touch 40,000
Bank of America Corp. is considering cuts totaling 40,000 jobs nationally over multiple years, according to the Wall Street Journal, which would amount to 14 percent of its current workforce.
Bank of America has more than 50 branches in Fairfield County, the second highest number after Bridgeport-based People”™s United Financial Inc.
At the height of the last business cycle, Bank of America was one of the dozen largest employers in Connecticut with about 5,100 workers in all, according to the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. Bank of America has since sold or shut multiple branches and is jettisoning more than 100 jobs at two Hartford-area offices.
Report: FrontPoint spinout bound for Greenwich
FrontPoint Partners reportedly is spinning off its $1.1 billion SJC Direct Lending Fund, with the fund”™s management planning to establish offices in Greenwich where FrontPoint is based.
FrontPoint itself was spun off from Morgan Stanley earlier this year, but according to multiple reports has downsized drastically amid legal actions and investor redemptions. According to the trade publication Pensions & Investments, the SJC fund contains the bulk of the remaining assets under management by FrontPoint.
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Bridgewater a good investment in 2011
Bridgewater Associates reportedly has among the best performances this year of any hedge fund in the world.
According to Bloomberg News, Bridgewater”™s Pure Alpha II fund is up 25.3 percent this year and is valued at $122 billion. A hedge fund index published by Eurekahedge was down 1.3 percent through August, calculating returns from thousands of funds globally.
Bridgewater is based in Westport and this summer secured an additional 225,000 square feet of space in Wilton.
Guilty plea in RBS embezzlement
A former Royal Bank of Scotland manager has received a one-year jail sentence for embezzlement.
James Glover, 54, of West Harrison, N.Y., was managing director of settlements and reconciliations for RBS Securities in Stamford. According to the office of U.S. Attorney David Fein, in 2009 and 2010 Glover transferred $625,000 to a New Jersey bank account he controlled. After being confronted in January 2010 Glover returned the money.
Law firm expands in Florida
Cummings & Lockwood L.L.C. has opened an office in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., its third in the Sunshine State and sixth overall including locations in Stamford, Greenwich and West Hartford.
Cummings & Lockwood services include trust and estate law, and charitable giving and foundations.
Local advisers named to top 100
HTG Investment Advisors Inc. and Loretta Nolan Associates L.L.C. were named to AdvisorOne”™s list of the top wealth managers in the nation.
New Canaan-based HTG manages more than $250 million in assets for more than 100 families. The firm was founded in 1993. Loretta Nolan Associates has its office in Greenwich.
FDIC dangles bank assets to small investors
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is offering a match program to help small investors and asset managers partner with larger investors to buy loans and other assets from failed banks.
Participants must be pre-qualified; once the investor is in, the program will use a customized online database to identify potential collaborations, which will be identified at the sole discretion of the participating firms.
Diamondback, ex-manager settle with SEC
A onetime portfolio manager with Diamondback Capital Management L.L.C. agreed to pay $200,000 to settle civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that he traded on insider information.
According to the SEC, Anthony J. Scolaro Jr. received information originally misappropriated by two attorneys with Ropes & Gray L.L.P., passed to him through four different individuals. After Scolaro allegedly acted on the tip, he produced illicit profits totaling $1.1 million, which Diamondback agreed to disgorge.
Scolaro, 54, of Darien, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to criminal charges in connection with the same case.
