Poor AIG. It was just starting to get its mojo back, launching a new ad campaign to thank taxpayers for rescuing the firm in the darkest days of the financial crisis. Then came the awkward news that it might sue taxpayers for driving too hard a bargain. Now the ad campaign seems dishonest and AIG […]
The schoolhouse murders in Newtown, Connecticut, have renewed the debate on gun control in America. But that debate is happening without the main protagonist. The National Rifle Association, so persuasive and powerful in private, has been silent in public. It has been their strategy in the past, and it has worked. Will this time be […]
We suffering taxpayers were treated to some rare good news this week, when the U.S. Treasury sold the last of its holdings in AIG, earning a cool $23 billion profit. Not bad for a risky corporate turnaround. But there to rain on the parade was Hank Greenberg, the former CEO of the insurance giant, who […]
The cross-channel brawl that has broken out between London mayor Boris Johnson and a French central bank official has everything a British tabloid editor loves: colorful protagonists, money, national pride and a favorite adversary – the French. While it’s tempting to read the story as a blunder by the French, it’s a calculated move, and […]
The resignation of Mike Hervey, the embattled chief executive of the Long Island Power Authority, ended for the moment the brutal headlines and fierce attacks on the utility from New York’s elected officials. At first glance, Hervey’s exit seems to follow a familiar narrative: a company stumbles badly in a crisis and the CEO is […]
It’s embarrassing anytime a company’s earnings are released accidentally. But when the company is a giant known for its savvy technology skills, well, it’s a calamity. Amid the morning-after explanations, several questions remain unanswered.
Here are four quick observations following Vikram Pandit’s surprise resignation as Citigroup CEO: 1. The bank deserves high marks for projecting a positive and consistent message from what was surely a contentious and tense situation. Abrupt CEO resignations come amid difficult board meetings, harsh words and hard negotiations. But this morning’s news release was solid […]
Investors are growing impatient with the slow pace of the turnaround at State Street Bank. The bank’s stock price has barely budged in three years, but its senior executives have reaped princely sums – just the sort of thing to set investors’ teeth grinding. The bank’s poor performance is compounded by poor communication.
Martin Wheatley of the UK’s Financial Services Authority on Friday announced plans to overhaul Libor, which has been at the center of a rate-fixing scandal involving Barclays and other major banks. Wheatley called for significant changes in the way Libor is set, and encouraged reform of other commonly used benchmarks with similar weaknesses – something […]
Usually when a company sees its stock price sliced in half the CEO takes to the airwaves to reassure anxious investors and heavily stock-optioned employees. But flouting convention is a hallmark of Mark Zuckerberg. It’s the right strategy.