Credit Suisse vs. American Express in Chile

Jim Kim — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:46:00 -0400

Business is war. We all know that. How's this for some bare-knuckled tactics: America Express Bank, before it was sold to Standard Chartered, charges that one Daniel Rosenkranz, 47--a Swiss national and possible Credit Suisse employee--spent roughly 10 days in Amex's bank offices in Chile in December 2007 without permission. The suit, as recounted by Investment Dealers' Digest, charges that Rosenkranz used flash drives and printers to gather information about clients and then contacted to obtain signatures for new accounts with Credit Suisse. Surveillance tape shows Rosenkranz exiting with boxes and bags of documents. I wonder if he got a raise. This sort of stuff happens. You also have to wonder how many new clients this netted Credit Suisse.

For more:
- here's the IDD article (for FierceFinance readers)

NYSE's SPAC move: Misguided?

Tue, 20 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

We've spoken a lot about the rise of special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. They were all the rage over the past few years, as more top investment banks got involved with them. They were fees to be had, of course. But the deal environment has worsened obviously, and that is making it hard for some SPACs to invest their newly raised funds. Share prices have been under pressure, and there is speculation that some SPACs may have to return funds. So it is interesting to read, in Traders Magazine, that the NYSE's marketing has paid off: A SPAC will move to the Big Board from the Amex. That would mark a first. Some might say the NYSE's marketing efforts are too late, but perhaps the time to make a push is when things are at a trough.

For more:
- here's the Traders Magazine article