1.
Ticker symbol
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A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. A stock symbol may consist of letters, numbers or a combination of both, ticker symbol refers to the symbols that were printed on the ticker tape of a ticker tape machine. Stock symbols are unique identifiers assigned to each security traded on a particular market, for example, AAPL is for Apple Inc. OODH is for Orion DHC, Inc. and HD is for Home Depot, a stock symbol can consist of letters, numbers, or a combination of both, and is a way to uniquely identify that stock. The symbols were kept as short as possible to reduce the number of characters that had to be printed on the ticker tape, the allocation of symbols and formatting convention is specific to each stock exchange. In the US, for example, stock tickers are typically between 1 and 4 letters and represent the name where possible. In Europe, most exchanges use three-letter codes, for example Dutch consumer goods company Unilever traded on the Amsterdam Euronext exchange has the symbol UNA, while in Asia, numbers are often used as stock tickers to avoid issues for international investors when using non-Latin scripts. For example, the bank HSBCs stock traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has the ticker symbol 0005, symbols sometimes change to reflect mergers. Prior to the 1999 merger with Mobil Oil, Exxon used a spelling of the company XON as its ticker symbol. The symbol of the firm after the merger was XOM, symbols are sometimes reused, in the US the single-letter symbols are particularly sought after as vanity symbols. For example, since Mar 2008 Visa Inc. has used the symbol V that had previously used by Vivendi which had delisted. To fully qualify a stock, both the ticker and the exchange or country of listing needs to be known, on many systems both must be specified to uniquely identify the security. This is often done by appending the location or exchange code to the ticker, although stock tickers identify a security, they are exchange dependent, generally limited to stocks and can change. These limitations have led to the development of other codes in financial markets to identify securities for settlement purposes, the most prevalent of these is the International Securities Identifying Number. An ISIN uniquely identifies a security and its structure is defined in ISO6166, Securities for which ISINs are issued include bonds, commercial paper, stocks, and warrants. The ISIN identifies the security, not the exchange on which it trades, for instance, Daimler AG stock trades on twenty-two different stock exchanges worldwide, and is priced in five different currencies, it has the same ISIN on each, though not the same ticker symbol. ISIN cannot specify a particular trade in this case, and another identifier, following the introduction of the Sequence trading platform in 1996, EPICs were renamed Tradable Instrument Display Mnemonics, but they are still widely referred to as EPICs. Stocks can also be identified using their SEDOL number or their ISIN, in the United States, modern letter-only ticker symbols were developed by Standard & Poors to bring a national standard to investing
2.
New York Stock Exchange
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The New York Stock Exchange, is an American stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York. It is by far the worlds largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its companies at US$19.3 trillion as of June 2016. The average daily trading value was approximately US$169 billion in 2013, the NYSE trading floor is located at 11 Wall Street and is composed of 21 rooms used for the facilitation of trading. A fifth trading room, located at 30 Broad Street, was closed in February 2007, the main building and the 11 Wall Street building were designated National Historic Landmarks in 1978. The NYSE is owned by Intercontinental Exchange, an American holding company that it also lists, previously, it was part of NYSE Euronext, which was formed by the NYSEs 2007 merger with Euronext. NYSE and Euronext now operate as divisions of Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE has been the subject of several lawsuits regarding fraud or breach of duty and in 2004 was sued by its former CEO for breach of contract and defamation. The earliest recorded organization of securities trading in New York among brokers directly dealing with each other can be traced to the Buttonwood Agreement, previously securities exchange had been intermediated by the auctioneers who also conducted more mundane auctions of commodities such as wheat and tobacco. In 1817 the stockbrokers of New York operating under the Buttonwood Agreement instituted new reforms, after sending a delegation to Philadelphia to observe the organization of their board of brokers, restrictions on manipulative trading were adopted as well as formal organs of governance. Several locations were used between 1817 and 1865, when the present location was adopted, the invention of the electrical telegraph consolidated markets, and New Yorks market rose to dominance over Philadelphia after weathering some market panics better than other alternatives. The Civil War greatly stimulated speculative securities trading in New York, by 1869 membership had to be capped, and has been sporadically increased since. The latter half of the century saw rapid growth in securities trading. Securities trade in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was prone to panics. The Stock Exchange Luncheon Club was situated on the floor from 1898 until its closure in 2006. The main building, located at 18 Broad Street, between the corners of Wall Street and Exchange Place, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978, as was the 11 Wall Street building. The NYSE announced its plans to merge with Archipelago on April 21,2005, NYSEs governing board voted to merge with rival Archipelago on December 6,2005, and became a for-profit, public company. It began trading under the name NYSE Group on March 8,2006, Wall Street is the leading US money center for international financial activities and the foremost US location for the conduct of wholesale financial services. It comprises a matrix of wholesale financial sectors, financial markets, financial institutions, the principal sectors are securities industry, commercial banking, asset management, and insurance. Prior to the acquisition of NYSE Euronext by the ICE in 2013, Marsh Carter was the Chairman of the NYSE, presently, the chairman is Jeffrey Sprecher
3.
S&P 500 Index
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The S&P500 index components and their weightings are determined by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It differs from other U. S. stock market indices, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the Nasdaq Composite index, because of its diverse constituency and weighting methodology. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices, and many consider it one of the best representations of the U. S. stock market, the National Bureau of Economic Research has classified common stocks as a leading indicator of business cycles. The S&P500 was developed and continued to be maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, S&P Dow Jones Indices publishes many stock market indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P MidCap 400, the S&P SmallCap 600, and the S&P Composite 1500. It is a free-float capitalization-weighted index, and has many symbols, such as, ^GSPC, INX. The Composite Index, as the S&P500 was first called when it introduced its first stock index in 1923, three years later in 1926, the Composite Index expanded to 90 stocks and then in 1957 it expanded to its current 500. Standard & Poors, a company that doles out financial information, in 1941 Poors Publishing merged with Standard Statistics and therein assumed the name Standard and Poors Corporation. The S&P500 index in its present form began on March 4,1957, technology has allowed the index to be calculated and disseminated in real time. The S&P500 is widely used as a measure of the level of stock prices. In September 1962, Ultronic Systems Corp. entered into an agreement with Standard, under the terms of this agreement, Ultronics computed the S&P500 Stock Composite Index, the 425 Stock Industrial Index, the 50 Stock Utility Index, and the 25 Stock Rail Index. Throughout the market day these statistics were furnished to Standard & Poors, in addition, Ultronics also computed and reported the 94 S&P sub-indexes. On August 12,1982, the index closed at 102.42, the index reached a relative intraday high—which was not exceeded for over seven years—of 1,552.87, on March 24,2000, during the dot-com bubble. The index then declined by approximately 50%, to 768.63, on October 10,2002, on May 30,2007, the S&P500 closed at 1,530.23, to set its first all-time closing high in more than seven years. Less than a later, it dropped to 1,400. In mid-2007, the mortgage crisis spread to the wider U. S. financial sector. On November 20,2008, the index closed at 752.44, a modest recovery the following day still left the index down 45. 5% for the year. This year-to-date loss was the greatest since 1931, when the market declined more than 50%. The index closed the year at 903.25, for a loss of 38. 5%, the market continued to decline in early 2009, surrounding the financial crisis of 2008
4.
Insurance
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Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss. It is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, an entity which provides insurance is known as an insurer, insurance company, or insurance carrier. A person or entity who buys insurance is known as an insured or policyholder, the insured receives a contract, called the insurance policy, which details the conditions and circumstances under which the insured will be financially compensated. The amount of money charged by the insurer to the insured for the coverage set forth in the policy is called the premium. If the insured experiences a loss which is covered by the insurance policy. Methods for transferring or distributing risk were practiced by Chinese and Babylonian traders as long ago as the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, Chinese merchants travelling treacherous river rapids would redistribute their wares across many vessels to limit the loss due to any single vessels capsizing. The Babylonians developed a system which was recorded in the famous Code of Hammurabi, c.1750 BC, and practiced by early Mediterranean sailing merchants. If a merchant received a loan to fund his shipment, he would pay the lender an additional sum in exchange for the guarantee to cancel the loan should the shipment be stolen. At some point in the 1st millennium BC, the inhabitants of Rhodes created the general average and this allowed groups of merchants to pay to insure their goods being shipped together. The collected premiums would be used to any merchant whose goods were jettisoned during transport. Separate insurance contracts were invented in Genoa in the 14th century, the first known insurance contract dates from Genoa in 1347, and in the next century maritime insurance developed widely and premiums were intuitively varied with risks. These new insurance contracts allowed insurance to be separated from investment, Insurance became far more sophisticated in Enlightenment era Europe, and specialized varieties developed. Property insurance as we know it today can be traced to the Great Fire of London, initially,5,000 homes were insured by his Insurance Office. At the same time, the first insurance schemes for the underwriting of business ventures became available, by the end of the seventeenth century, Londons growing importance as a center for trade was increasing demand for marine insurance. These informal beginnings led to the establishment of the insurance market Lloyds of London and several related shipping, the first life insurance policies were taken out in the early 18th century. The first company to offer life insurance was the Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office, founded in London in 1706 by William Talbot, edward Rowe Mores established the Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorship in 1762. In the late 19th century, accident insurance began to become available and this operated much like modern disability insurance. The first company to offer accident insurance was the Railway Passengers Assurance Company, by the late 19th century, governments began to initiate national insurance programs against sickness and old age
5.
Shanghai
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Shanghai is the most populous city proper in the world, with a population of more than 24 million as of 2014. As one of the four direct-controlled municipalities of the Peoples Republic of China, it is a financial centre and transport hub. Located in the Yangtze River Delta in East China, Shanghai sits on the edge of the mouth of the Yangtze in the middle portion of the eastern Chinese coast. The municipality borders the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the north, south and west, as a major administrative, shipping and trading city, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to trade and recognition of its favourable port location and economic potential. The city was one of five treaty ports forced open to foreign trade following the British victory over China in the First Opium War, the subsequent 1842 Treaty of Nanking and 1844 Treaty of Whampoa allowed the establishment of the Shanghai International Settlement and the French Concession. The city then flourished as a center of commerce between China and other parts of the world, and became the financial hub of the Asia-Pacific region in the 1930s. However, with the Communist Party takeover of the mainland in 1949, trade was limited to other socialist countries, and the citys global influence declined. In the 1990s, the reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense re-development of the city, aiding the return of finance. The two Chinese characters in the name are 上 and 海, together meaning Upon-the-Sea. The earliest occurrence of this dates from the 11th-century Song Dynasty, at which time there was already a river confluence. There are disputes as to exactly how the name should be understood, Shanghai is officially abbreviated 沪 in Chinese, a contraction of 沪渎, a 4th- or 5th-century Jin name for the mouth of Suzhou Creek when it was the main conduit into the ocean. This character appears on all motor vehicle license plates issued in the municipality today, another alternative name for Shanghai is Shēn or Shēnchéng, from Lord Chunshen, a third-century BC nobleman and prime minister of the state of Chu, whose fief included modern Shanghai. Sports teams and newspapers in Shanghai often use Shen in their names, such as Shanghai Shenhua F. C. Huating was another early name for Shanghai. In AD751, during the dynasty, Huating County was established at modern-day Songjiang. Today, Huating appears as the name of a hotel in the city. The city also has various nicknames in English, including Pearl of the Orient, during the Spring and Autumn period, the Shanghai area belonged to the Kingdom of Wu, which was conquered by the Kingdom of Yue, which in turn was conquered by the Kingdom of Chu. During the Warring States period, Shanghai was part of the fief of Lord Chunshen of Chu and he ordered the excavation of the Huangpu River. Its former or poetic name, the Chunshen River, gave Shanghai its nickname of Shen, two important events helped promote Shanghais development in the Ming dynasty
6.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
7.
Brian Duperreault
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Duperreault was President and Chief Executive Officer of Marsh & McLennan Companies from 2008 to 2012. Prior to joining ACE, Duperreault served in senior executive positions with American International Group. Duperreault is Chairman of Attune, the company established by Hamilton Insurance Group, AIG and Two Sigma. He is the former Chairman of the Board of Overseers of the School of Risk Management of St. John’s University and he serves on Johnson Controls’ Board of Directors. He’s had only four jobs in 40 years, but their cumulative success, in March 2013, Duperreault was asked by Bermudas Finance Minister, the Hon. E. T. Richards, to chair the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission. The SAGE Commission submitted a report with recommendations on October 31,2013. Born in Bermuda, he left with his mother for Trenton and he attended Saint Josephs University in Philadelphia where he received a B. S. Mathematics. After receiving his degree from Saint Josephs University, Duperreault served in the US Army. During this time he thought of becoming a professor of mathematics, newly married, he decided he wanted a better income than an academic life could provide. After he was discharged, he researched job ideas at a library where he learned about the actuary profession. In 1973, he started with A. I. G. where he held many positions, eventually heading the operations in Japan and South Korea. Duperreault worked for American International Group for over than 20 years and his leadership and business acumen emerged during his time at A. I. G, where he began working in the Companys actuarial department in 1978. S. From AIG, the Bermuda-born Duperreault made his way back home, a troubled Marsh & McLennan tempted Duperreault out of retirement in January 2008. Prior to his appointment, many quarters of disappointing results had analysts, Duperreault stepped into the role of President and CEO of MMC in 2008 feeling destined for the job and confident in the companys inherent value—and his ability to unlock it. The industry agreed, called his appointment as a masterstroke, duperreaults multi-year plan to restore the Marsh & McLennan name in both reputation and financial performance yielded signs of improvement almost immediately. Duperreault and his wife Nancy have three sons, Daniel, David, and Christopher and he credits career success to his Jesuit education at Saint Joseph’s University and pays loving tribute to his late mother, Margaret, for the values she instilled in him. A devout Catholic, he draws inspiration from his faith, it’s the essence of who I am, ” Duperreault said. “I try to pray for all the time
8.
1000000 (number)
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One million or one thousand thousand is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione, from mille, thousand and it is commonly abbreviated as m or M, further MM, mm, or mn in financial contexts. In scientific notation, it is written as 1×106 or 106, physical quantities can also be expressed using the SI prefix mega, when dealing with SI units, for example,1 megawatt equals 1,000,000 watts. The meaning of the word million is common to the scale and long scale numbering systems, unlike the larger numbers. Information, Not counting spaces, the text printed on 136 pages of an Encyclopædia Britannica, length, There are one million millimeters in a kilometer, and roughly a million sixteenths of an inch in a mile. A typical car tire might rotate a million times in a 1, 200-mile trip, fingers, If the width of a human finger is 2.2 cm, then a million fingers lined up would cover a distance of 22 km. If a person walks at a speed of 4 km/h, it would take approximately five. A city lot 70 by 100 feet is about a million square inches, volume, The cube root of one million is only one hundred, so a million objects or cubic units is contained in a cube only a hundred objects or linear units on a side. A million grains of salt or granulated sugar occupies only about 64 ml. One million cubic inches would be the volume of a room only 8 1⁄3 feet long by 8 1⁄3 feet wide by 8 1⁄3 feet high. Mass, A million cubic millimeters of water would have a volume of one litre, a million millilitres or cubic centimetres of water has a mass of a million grams or one tonne. Weight, A million 80-milligram honey bees would weigh the same as an 80 kg person, landscape, A pyramidal hill 600 feet wide at the base and 100 feet high would weigh about a million tons. Computer, A display resolution of 1,280 by 800 pixels contains 1,024,000 pixels, money, A USD bill of any denomination weighs 1 gram. There are 454 grams in a pound, one million $1 bills would weigh 2,204.62 pounds, or just over 1 ton. Time, A million seconds is 11.57 days, in Indian English and Pakistani English, it is also expressed as 10 lakh or 10 Lac. Lakh is derived from laksh for 100,000 in Sanskrit
9.
Earnings before interest and taxes
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In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes, is a measure of a firms profit that includes all expenses except interest and income tax expenses. It is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses, when a firm does not have non-operating income, then operating income is sometimes used as a synonym for EBIT and operating profit. To calculate EBIT, expenses are subtracted from revenues, net income is later obtained by subtracting interest and taxes from the result
10.
Net income
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In business, net income is an entitys income minus cost of goods sold, expenses and taxes for an accounting period. In the context of the presentation of financial statements, the IFRS Foundation defines net income as synonymous with profit, net income is a distinct accounting concept from profit but the same as net profit. Net income can also be calculated by adding a companys operating income to non-operating income, net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings. As profit and earnings are used synonymously for income, net earnings, often, the term income is substituted for net income, yet this is not preferred due to the possible ambiguity. Net income is called the bottom line because it is typically found on the last line of a companys income statement. The items deducted will typically include tax expense, financing expense, likewise, preferred stock dividends will be subtracted too, though they are not an expense. For a merchandising company, subtracted costs may be the cost of goods sold, sales discounts, for a product company advertising, manufacturing, and design and development costs are included
11.
Asset
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In financial accounting, an asset is an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned or controlled to produce value, simply stated, assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash. The balance sheet of a firm records the value of the assets owned by that firm. It covers money and other valuables belonging to an individual or to a business, one can classify assets into two major asset classes, tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets, current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment. Intangible assets are resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the marketplace. Examples of intangible assets include goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, an asset is a resource controlled by the entity as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity. One of the most widely accepted accounting definitions of asset is the one used by the International Accounting Standards Board, employees are not considered assets like machinery is, even though they can generate future economic benefits. This is because an entity does not have sufficient control over its employees to satisfy the Frameworks definition of an asset, similarly, in economics an asset is any form in which wealth can be held. The accounting equation is the structure of the balance sheet. It relates assets, liabilities, and owners equity, Assets = Liabilities + Capital Liabilities = Assets − Capital Equity = Assets − Liabilities Assets are listed on the balance sheet. On a companys balance sheet certain divisions are required by generally accepted accounting principles, Assets can be divided into e. g. current assets and fixed assets, often with further subdivisions such as cash, receivables and inventory. Assets are formally controlled and managed within larger organizations via the use of asset tracking tools and these monitor the purchasing, upgrading, servicing, licensing, disposal etc. of both physical and non-physical assets. Current assets are cash and other assets expected to be converted to cash or consumed either in a year or in the operating cycle and these assets are continually turned over in the course of a business during normal business activity. There are 5 major items included into current assets, Cash and cash equivalents – it is the most liquid asset, which includes currency, deposit accounts, short-term investments – include securities bought and held for sale in the near future to generate income on short-term price differences. Receivables – usually reported as net of allowance for non-collectable accounts, inventory – trading these assets is a normal business of a company. The inventory value reported on the sheet is usually the historical cost or fair market value. This is known as the lower of cost or market rule, prepaid expenses – these are expenses paid in cash and recorded as assets before they are used or consumed
12.
Equity (finance)
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In accounting, equity is the difference between the value of the assets and the value of the liabilities of something owed. Equity can be negative if liabilities exceeds assets, shareholders equity represents the equity of a company as divided among shareholders of common or preferred stock. Negative shareholders equity is often referred to as a shareholders deficit, alternatively, equity can also refer to the capital stock of a corporation. The value of the stock depends on the future economic prospects. For a company in liquidation proceedings, the equity is that which remains after all liabilities have been paid, when starting a business, the owners fund the business to finance various operations. Throughout the businesss existence, the equity of the business will be the difference between its assets and debt liabilities, this is the accounting equation, when a business liquidates during bankruptcy, the proceeds from the assets are used to reimburse creditors. The creditors are ranked by priority, with secured creditors being paid first, other creditors being paid next, owners equity is this remaining or residual claim against assets, which is paid only after all other creditors are paid. In such cases where even creditors could not get money to pay their bills. In financial accounting, owners equity consists of the net assets of an entity, net assets is the difference between the total assets and total liabilities. Equity appears on the sheet, one of the four primary financial statements. The assets of an entity can be tangible and intangible items. Intangible assets include such as brand names, copyrights or goodwill. Tangible assets include land, equipment, and cash, issue of new equity in which the firm obtains new capital increases the total shareholders equity. Share repurchases, in which a firm returns money to investors, reducing on the side its financial assets. For practical purposes, share repurchasing is similar to a dividend payment, rather than giving money to all shareholders immediately in the form of a dividend payment, a share repurchase reduces the number of shares outstanding. Dividends paid out to preferred stock owners are considered an expense to be subtracted from net income, sometimes assets bought and held in other countries get translated back into the reporting currency at different exchange rates, resulting in a changed value. When the owners are shareholders, the interest can be called shareholders equity, the remains the same. If all shareholders are in one and the class, they share equally in ownership equity from all perspectives
13.
Credit default swap
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A credit default swap is a financial swap agreement that the seller of the CDS will compensate the buyer in the event of a loan default or other credit event. That is, the seller of the CDS insures the buyer against some reference loan defaulting, the buyer of the CDS makes a series of payments to the seller and, in exchange, receives a payoff if the loan defaults. It was invented by Blythe Masters from JP Morgan in 1994, in the event of default the buyer of the CDS receives compensation, and the seller of the CDS takes possession of the defaulted loan. However, anyone can purchase a CDS, even buyers who do not hold the loan instrument, Credit default swaps have existed since 1994, and increased in use in the early 2000s. By the end of 2007, the outstanding CDS amount was $62.2 trillion, falling to $26.3 trillion by mid-year 2010, CDSs are not traded on an exchange and there is no required reporting of transactions to a government agency. During the 2007–2010 financial crisis the lack of transparency in this market became a concern to regulators as it could pose a systemic risk. In March 2010, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation announced it would give greater access to its credit default swaps database. Courts may soon be following suit, most CDSs are documented using standard forms drafted by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, although there are many variants. In addition to the basic, single-name swaps, there are basket default swaps, index CDSs, funded CDSs, in addition to corporations and governments, the reference entity can include a special purpose vehicle issuing asset-backed securities. Some claim that such as CDS are potentially dangerous in that they combine priority in bankruptcy with a lack of transparency. A CDS can be unsecured and be at risk for a default. A CDS is linked to an entity or reference obligor. The reference entity is not a party to the contract, the buyer makes regular premium payments to the seller, the premium amounts constituting the spread charged by the seller to insure against a credit event. If the reference entity defaults, the seller pays the buyer the par value of the bond in exchange for physical delivery of the bond. A default is referred to as a credit event and includes such events as failure to pay, restructuring and bankruptcy. CDS contracts on sovereign obligations also usually include as credit events repudiation, moratorium, most CDSs are in the $10–$20 million range with maturities between one and 10 years. Five years is the most typical maturity, in this way, a CDS is similar to credit insurance, although CDS are not subject to regulations governing traditional insurance. Also, investors can buy and sell protection without owning debt of the reference entity and these naked credit default swaps allow traders to speculate on the creditworthiness of reference entities
14.
North China Daily News Building
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The North China Daily News Building is a historical Neo-Renaissance-style office building on the Bund in Shanghai, China located at No.17, The Bund. It currently houses the offices of the American International Assurance, and is often called the AIA Building. At the time of its opening in 1924, it was the tallest building in Shanghai, the North China Daily News was the first English-language newspaper to be published in Shanghai, in 1850. Because the newspapers founder saw Shanghai as a commercial center and founded the paper to support Shanghais growth. The paper expanded as Shanghai grew, and moved to the Bund in 1901, in 1921 the paper began construction of this building as its new headquarters, and completed construction in 1924. The building was designed by architects Lester, Johnson & Morriss, which was co-founded by Gordon Morriss, from 1927 the building also housed the offices of American Asiatic Underwriters, an insurance agency founded by Cornelius Vander Starr and the forerunner of the American International Group. The Japanese Empire confiscated the building during its occupation of Shanghai during the World War II, during that time the building was home to the Tairiku Shimpō, a Japanese newspaper. After World War II the North China Daily News returned to the building, the building was then confiscated and used by the Chinese government as a branch for various government offices at various times. In 1996 the building was restored, and in 1998 it became the Shanghai branch of AIA Group Limited, AIA is a subsidiary of American International Group, which is a successor company of the American Asiatic Underwriters, who occupied part of the building in the early twentieth century. The North China Daily News Building is a concrete structure with Baroque towers, Neoclassical pillars. The first seven floors are faced with granite, the lowest two floors of which are rough hewn, the building originally incorporated the statues two goddesses, which flanked the marble entrance, but these statues were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The building contains 9,043 square metres of office space, the Bund - Picture Guide to Historic Buildings. North China Daily News Building page including historical and contemporary photographs at Chinese-Architecture. info Historic Architecture of The Bund - Shanghai
15.
The Bund (Shanghai)
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The documentary released by CCTV, directed by Zhou Bing. The Bund or Waitan is a waterfront area in central Shanghai, the area centers on a section of Zhongshan Road within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River in the eastern part of Huangpu District. The area along the faces the modern skyscrapers of Lujiazui in the Pudong District. The Bund usually refers to the buildings and wharves on this section of the road and it is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai. Building heights are restricted in the area, the word bund means an embankment or an embanked quay. The word comes from the Persian word band, through Hindustani, meaning an embankment, mumbais Apollo Bunder and city names like Bandar Abbas and Banda Aceh share the same etymology. In these Chinese port cities, the English term came to mean, especially, in English, Bund is pronounced to rhyme with fund. There are numerous sites in India, China, and Japan that are called bunds, however, The Bund, without qualification to location, usually refers to this stretch of embanked riverfront in Shanghai. The Bund lies north of the old, walled city of Shanghai and it was initially a British settlement, later the British and American settlements were combined in the International Settlement. Magnificent commercial buildings in the Beaux Arts style sprung up in the years around the turn of the 20th century as the Bund developed into a financial center of east Asia. Directly to the south, and just northeast of the old walled city, by the 1940s, the Bund housed the headquarters of many, if not most, of the major financial institutions operating in China, including the big four national banks in the Republic of China era. However, with the Communist victory in the Chinese civil war, many of the institutions were moved out gradually in the 1950s. The statues of figures and foreign worthies which had dotted the riverside were also removed. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the thawing of economic policy in the Peoples Republic of China, government institutions were moved out in favour of financial institutions, while hotels resumed trading as such. The Bunds revitalization began in 1986 with a new promenade by the Dutch Architect Paulus Snoeren and has changed the streetscape of the Bund. In the 1990s, Zhongshan Road, the road on which the Bund is centred, was widened to ten lanes, as a result, most of the parkland which had existed along the road disappeared. Also in this period, the ferry connecting the Bund and Pudong. A number of pleasure cruises still operate from some nearby wharves, in its expanded form, the term Bund was used to refer to areas south of the Yanan Road, and a stretch of riverfront north of the Suzhou River
16.
70 Pine Street
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It was built in 1931-32 by the Cities Service Company for the oil and gas baron Henry Latham Doherty, and was designed by the firms of Clinton & Russell and Holton & George in the Art Deco style. The building and its first floor interior were designated New York City Landmarks in June 2011, as of 2016, the building is a luxury rental residential property. The Cities Service Building was constructed during the New York skyscraper race, which accounts for its gothic-like spire-topped appearance, when completed it was the third tallest building in the world, after the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. It was the last skyscraper to be built in Lower Manhattan prior to World War II, upon the 9/11 Attacks, it regained for some years the status of the tallest downtown building until the completion of the new 4 World Trade Center. It is now the third tallest building in Lower Manhattan, as of 2015, it is the eighth tallest in New York City, the 20th tallest in the United States, and the 103rd tallest building in the world. One of the most noted themes of the tower is a mountain with a snow cap. This observatory is no longer accessible to the public, the tower was originally and famously built with double-decker elevators that served two floors at a time to provide sufficient vertical service for the narrow tower and its limited elevator shafts. Soon afterwards, these elevators were removed because of their low popularity, however, Cities Service sold the building to the American International Group in 1976 when it moved its company headquarters to Tulsa, Oklahoma. It served as AIGs world headquarters until its financial struggles in 2008, the building was later purchased by MetroLoft, which sold it to Rose Associates. Today,70 Pine Street is held by Luxembourg-based Eastbridge Group and Rose Associates, Rose and DTH Capital are in the process of transforming 70 Pine into luxury rental apartments. Residential leasing started in the winter of 2015, upon completion,70 Pine will consist of 612 residential units and 132 extended-stay apartments, the later exclusive to Q&A Residential Hotel by Furnished Quarters. Rose is currently marketing an additional 35,000 square feet of space that is accessible from Pine, Pearl. Skyscraper Rivals, The AIG Building and the Architecture of Wall Street, an architectural historian’s favorite buildings include the 1932 Cities Service Building
17.
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles
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Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. Woodland Hills is an affluent neighborhood in the region of the San Fernando Valley which is located east of Calabasas. On the north it is bordered by West Hills, Canoga Park, and Winnetka, some neighborhoods are in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Running east–west through the community are U. S. Route 101 and Ventura Boulevard, the first Europeans to enter the San Fernando Valley were the Portola Expedition in 1769, exploring Alta California for Spanish missions and settlements locations. Seeing it from present-day Sepulveda Pass, the oak savanna inspired them to call the area El Valle de Santa Catalina de Bononia de Los Encinos, the Mission San Fernando Rey de España was established in 1797 and controlled the Valleys land, including future Woodland Hills. Ownership of the half of the valley, south of present-day Roscoe Boulevard from Toluca Lake to Woodland Hills. Moses Sherman and others in 1910, victor Girard Kleinberger bought 2,886 acres in the area from Chandlers group and founded the town of Girard in 1922. He sought to attract residents and businesses by developing an infrastructure, advertising in newspapers and his 300 pepper trees formed a canopy over Canoga Ave. between Ventura Boulevard and Saltillo St. became Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #93 in 1972. The community of Girard was eventually incorporated into Los Angeles, Woodland Hills has a firmly subtropical mediterranean climate. Within the San Fernando Valley, Woodland Hills generally experiences some of the extreme temperature changes season to season than other regions. During the summer, temperatures are very hot, while during the winter. On July 22,2006, Woodland Hills recorded the highest temperature ever in Los Angeles County, the climate is classified as a Csa in the Köppen climate classification, which is characterized by mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. This climate is referred to as mediterranean. Precipitation in Woodland Hills averages much the same as most other regions of the west San Fernando Valley, in 2008 the population of Woodland Hills was approximately 63,000. The median age in 2000 was 40, considered old when compared to city and county jurisdictions. As of the 2000 census, and according to the Los Angeles Almanac, there were 67,006 people and 29,119 households residing in Woodland Hills. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 79. 90% White,6. 97% Asian,0. 13% Pacific Islander,3. 34% African American,0. 33% Native American,4. 80% from other races, and 4. 52% from two or more races. 11. 94% of the population were Hispanic of any race, in population, it is one of the least dense neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and the percentage of white people is high for the county
18.
Blackstone Group
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The Blackstone Group L. P. is an American multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services firm based in New York City. As the largest alternative investment firm in the world, Blackstone specializes in equity, credit. Blackstone was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions boutique by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, over the course of two decades, Blackstone has evolved into one of the worlds largest private equity investment firms. In 2007, Blackstone completed a $4 billion initial public offering to become one of the first major private equity firms to list shares in its management company on a public exchange. Hamilton E. James is the current president, chief operating officer, as of 2011, Blackstone is the worlds fifth-largest private equity firm by committed capital, focusing primarily on leveraged buyouts of more mature companies. The firm also invests through minority investments, corporate partnerships, and industry consolidations, the firm focuses on friendly investments in large capitalization companies. Blackstones private equity business employs approximately 120 investment employees in New York City, London, Menlo Park, California, Mumbai, Hong Kong, in 2009 Blackstone purchased Busch Entertainment. In 2012, Blackstone acquired a controlling interest in Utah-based Vivint, Inc. a home automation, security, former notable investments include Universal Studios Parks, which was sold to Comcast. The real estate business has raised approximately $28 billion for a variety of vehicles, including six US-focused funds. Blackstone also raised a real estate special situations fund focusing on non-controlling debt, the special situations fund invests directly in real estate as well as private and publicly traded real estate-related securities. The purchase and subsequent profitable IPO of Southern Cross led to controversy in the UK, part of the purchase involved splitting the business into a property company, NHP, and a care home business, which Blackstone claimed would become the leading company in the elderly care market. In May 2011, Southern Cross, now independent, was almost bankrupt and it denied blame, although Blackstone was widely accused in the media for selling on the company with an unsustainable business model and crippled with an impossible sale and leaseback strategy. After the subprime mortgage crisis, Blackstone Group LP has bought more than $5.5 billion single-family homes for rent, to be sold when the prices rise. Blackstone has agreed to sell a selection of Northern California office buildings for the sum of $3.5 billion, in 1990, Blackstone created a fund of hedge funds business to manage the internal assets for Blackstone and its senior managers. Over the years, this evolved into Blackstones marketable alternative asset management segment. Among the investments included in this segment are funds of funds, mezzanine funds, senior debt vehicles, proprietary hedge funds. The combination of Blackstone and GSO created one of the largest credit platforms in the asset management business. GSO was founded in 2005 by Bennett Goodman, Tripp Smith, the GSO team had previously managed the leveraged finance businesses at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and later Credit Suisse First Boston, after the acquisition of DLJ
19.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
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The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission is an independent agency of the United States federal government. The SEC was created by Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the SEC has a three-part mission, to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. To achieve its mandate, the SEC enforces the requirement that public companies submit quarterly and annual reports. MD&A will usually touch on the upcoming year, outlining future goals. In an attempt to level the field for all investors. Quarterly and semiannual reports from companies are crucial for investors to make sound decisions when investing in the capital markets. Unlike banking, investment in the markets is not guaranteed by the federal government. The potential for big gains needs to be weighed against that of sizable losses, the SEC makes reports available to the public through the EDGAR system. The SEC also offers publications on investment-related topics for public education, the same online system also takes tips and complaints from investors to help the SEC track down violators of the securities laws. The SEC adheres to a policy of never commenting on the existence or status of an ongoing investigation. Prior to the enactment of the securities laws and the creation of the SEC. They were enacted and enforced at the level, and regulated the offering. Though the specific provisions of these laws varied among states, they all required the registration of all offerings and sales, as well as of every U. S. stockbroker. However, these blue sky laws were found to be ineffective. For example, the Investment Bankers Association told its members as early as 1915 that they could ignore blue sky laws by making securities offerings across state lines through the mail. After holding hearings on abuses on interstate frauds, Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933, the subsequent Securities Exchange Act of 1934 regulates sales of securities in the secondary market. The Securities Act of 1933 is also known as the Truth in Securities Act and its goal was to increase public trust in the capital markets by requiring uniform disclosure of information about public securities offerings. For the first year of the enactment, the enforcement of the statute rested with the Federal Trade Commission
20.
United States Department of Justice
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The department was formed in 1870 during the Ulysses S. Grant administration. In its early years, the DOJ vigorously prosecuted Ku Klux Klan members, the Department of Justice administers several federal law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The department has responsibility to investigate instances of fraud, to represent the United States in legal matters such as in the Supreme Court. The department also has responsibilities to review actions of law enforcement conduct by the Violent Crime Control. The Department is headed by the United States Attorney General, who is nominated by the President, the current Attorney General is Jeff Sessions. The U. S. Attorney General was initially a one-person and it was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, but this grew with the bureaucracy. At one time the Attorney General gave legal advice to the U. S. Congress as well as the President, until March 3,1853, the salary of the Attorney General was set by statute at less than the amount paid to other Cabinet members. Early Attorneys General supplemented their salary by engaging in private practice of law. Following unsuccessful efforts to put the Attorney Generals Office on a footing, in 1869. On February 19,1868, Lawrence introduced a bill in Congress to create the Department of Justice, President Ulysses S. Grant then signed the bill into law on June 22,1870. The Department of Justice officially began operations on July 1,1870, just prior to the Civil War, in February 1861, the Confederate States of America established a Department of Justice. Grant appointed Amos T. Akerman as Attorney General and Benjamin H. Bristow as Americas first Solicitor General, both Akerman and Bristow used the Department of Justice to vigorously prosecute Ku Klux Klan members in the early 1870s. In the first few years of Grants first term in there were 1000 indictments against Klan members with over 550 convictions from the Department of Justice. The result was a decrease in violence in the South. Akerman gave credit to Grant and told a friend that no one was better or stronger then Grant when it came to prosecuting terrorists. Akermans successor, George H. Williams, in December 1871, the law did create a new office, that of Solicitor General, to supervise and conduct government litigation in the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1884, control of federal prisons was transferred to the new department, new facilities were built, including the penitentiary at Leavenworth in 1895, and a facility for women located in West Virginia, at Alderson was established in 1924. The U. S. Department of Justice building was completed in 1935 from a design by Milton Bennett Medary, upon Medarys death in 1929, the other partners of his Philadelphia firm Zantzinger, Borie and Medary took over the project
21.
New York State Attorney General
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The Attorney General of New York is the chief legal officer of the State of New York and head of the New York state governments Department of Law. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, the current Attorney General is Eric Schneiderman. He was elected on November 2,2010 and took office on January 1,2011, the Attorney General advises the executive branch of state government and defends actions and proceedings on behalf of the state. The Attorney General acts independently of the Governor of New York, the departments regulations are compiled in title 13 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. The legal functions of the Department of Law are divided primarily into five divisions, Appeals and Opinions, State Counsel, Criminal Justice, Economic Justice. In 1693, the Attorney General earned a salary of 50 pounds, from 1777 to 1822, the Attorney General was appointed by the Council of Appointment. From 1823 to 1846, the Attorney General was elected by the New York State Legislature for a three-year term, attorneys General have been elected by the voters since 1847. Justia. com U. S
22.
The Wall Street Journal
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The Wall Street Journal is an American business-focused, English-language international daily newspaper based in New York City. The Journal, along with its Asian and European editions, is published six days a week by Dow Jones & Company, the newspaper is published in the broadsheet format and online. The Wall Street Journal is the largest newspaper in the United States by circulation, according to the Alliance for Audited Media, the Journal had a circulation of about 2.4 million copies as of March 2013, compared with USA Todays 1.7 million. The newspaper has won 39 Pulitzer Prizes through 2015 and derives its name from Wall Street in the heart of the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The Journal has been printed continuously since its inception on July 8,1889, by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, the Journal also publishes the luxury news and lifestyle magazine WSJ. They were later aggregated in a daily summary called the Customers Afternoon Letter. In 1896, The Dow Jones Industrial Average was officially launched and it was the first of several indices of stock and bond prices on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1899, the Journals Review & Outlook column, which still today, appeared for the first time. Journalist Clarence Barron purchased control of the company for US$130,000 in 1902, circulation was then around 7,000, Barron and his predecessors were credited with creating an atmosphere of fearless, independent financial reporting—a novelty in the early days of business journalism. In 1921, Barrons, Americas premier financial weekly, was founded, Barron died in 1928, a year before Black Tuesday, the stock market crash that greatly affected the Great Depression in the United States. Barrons descendants, the Bancroft family, would continue to control the company until 2007, the Journal took its modern shape and prominence in the 1940s, a time of industrial expansion for the United States and its financial institutions in New York. Bernard Kilgore was named managing editor of the paper in 1941, under Kilgore, in 1947, that the paper won its first Pulitzer Prize, for William Henry Grimess editorials. In 1970, Dow Jones bought the Ottaway newspaper chain, which at the time comprised nine dailies, later, the name was changed to Dow Jones Local Media Group. In 2007 News Corp. acquired Dow Jones, a luxury lifestyle magazine, was launched in 2008. A complement to the print newspaper, The Wall Street Journal Online, was launched in 1996, in 2003, Dow Jones began to integrate reporting of the Journals print and online subscribers together in Audit Bureau of Circulations statements. In 2007, it was believed to be the largest paid-subscription news site on the Web. Since then, online subscribership has fallen, due in part to rising subscription costs, in May 2008, an annual subscription to the online edition of The Wall Street Journal cost $119 for those who do not have subscriptions to the print edition. By June 2013, the monthly cost for a subscription to the edition was $22.99, or $275.88 annually
23.
Ed Liddy
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Edward Michael Ed Liddy was the chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group from 2008 to 2009 during the late-2000s financial crisis. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Liddy was educated at the Trinity-Pawling School for Boys, located on the hills overlooking Pawling and he graduated high school in 1964 from the Clearwater Central Catholic High School, along with its first graduating class of 27 students. At the time, he and his mother lived near downtown Clearwater and he holds a B. A. degree from The Catholic University of America and holds an MBA from George Washington University. Liddy worked for Ford Motor Company until 1981 when he joined Searle, Liddy was executive vice president of ADT, Inc. In 1988 he moved to Sears and then in 1994 to Allstate where he was chief operating officer until 1999 and chairman, chief executive officer, Liddy was on the board of Goldman Sachs from 2003 to 2008, when he resigned to become CEO of AIG. He was selected by Henry Paulson for both roles, Liddy became CEO of AIG in September 2008, succeeding Robert B. As CEO of AIG, Liddy received a salary of just $1, Liddy garnered national headlines in October 2008 for defending a controversial $440,000 AIG retreat for top-performing insurance salesmen at the luxury St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California. The retreat, which was shortly after the U. S. government rescued AIG from insolvency with $84 billion in loans, included $200,000 for rooms, $150,000 for meals. In testimony before the U. S. House Oversight Committee, Liddy owned 27,129 shares in Goldman Sachs, at the time worth just over $3 million. In April 2009 members of Congress called for Liddy to sell these shares, Liddy announced on May 21,2009 that he would resign as AIG Chairman and CEO when replacements were found, suggesting that the two roles be split. In August 2009, Robert Benmosche took over as CEO and Harvey Golub as chairman, as of September 13,2011, Liddy is on the board of directors for 3M and Boeing. He is chairman of ServiceMaster and a partner of private equity firm Clayton,10 Things You Didnt Know About Edward Liddy from U. S. News & World Report
24.
Bob Benmosche
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Robert Herman Bob Benmosche was the president and chief executive officer of American International Group. He was appointed President & Chief Executive Officer by the US Department of Treasury, Benmosche is best known for his leadership at AIG, where he led a turnaround, improved profits 60% year over year, and paid down government aid pledged by the Bush and Obama Administrations. Benmosche was born in Brooklyn, New York, Benmosche traced his Jewish lineage back to Lithuania, where his great-grandfather, Moshe Kreiskol, was one of the first Jews to serve in the tsar’s army in the 1830s. Benmosches grandfather, Rabbi Herman Benmosche moved the family to the US in 1894, benmosches father died when Benmosche was 10 years old. His estate included a newly constructed motel in the Borscht Belt—the small towns in the Catskills where New York City Jews summered, Benmosche himself took a series of jobs, working there, caddying, and later, driving a delivery truck. He graduated from New York Military Academy in 1962, and from Alfred University in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics. From 1966 to 1968, Benmosche served as a Lieutenant in the U. S. Army, Benmosche began his career when he joined Arthur D. Little and Information Science as a consultant. In 1975, Benmosche joined the Chase Manhattan systems group, in 1982, Benmosche joined Paine Webber to lead the development of Paine Webbers Central Asset Brokerage Account. In that role, he oversaw the merger of Kidder Peabody’s operations, Benmosche left Paine Webber to join the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1995. He was later promoted to president and Chief Operating Officer, and in November 1997 in his role as COO, in 1998 he was named Chairman of the Board and CEO. During his tenure, he oversaw MetLifes successful transition from company to publicly traded firm. After being a member of the board of Credit Suisse AG for eleven years, in 2001, Benmosche purchased the 1923 Lafayette Theatre in his hometown of Suffern, New York, and successfully led its historic preservation effort. Benmosche owned Villa Splendid in Dubrovnik, Croatia, in 2001, Benmosche bought the one-time discothèque and spent the next six years renovating it. In 2006, Benmosche purchased land and imported 1500 Zinfandel plants from Napa Valley, in 2011, Benmosche’s vineyard produced 3,000 bottles of wine under The Benmosche Family Dingac label. In mid-2009, Benmosche was appointed CEO of American International Group and he assumed that role on August 10 of that year. He was recruited by Jim Millstein who was Chief Restructuring Officer at the US Department of Treasury and he later asked for a personal private jet and said that he might quit over government-imposed pay restrictions. “AIG is now on a path to repaying taxpayers. At the end of the day, the U. S. government will make an appropriate profit, Benmosche oversaw the sale of non-core assets in AIG’s portfolio to pay down the $182 billion in government aid
25.
Subprime mortgage crisis
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The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a nationwide banking emergency that contributed to the U. S. recession of December 2007 – June 2009. It was triggered by a decline in home prices after the collapse of a housing bubble, leading to mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. Declines in residential investment preceded the recession and were followed by reductions in household spending, spending reductions were more significant in areas with a combination of high household debt and larger housing price declines. A proximate cause was the rise in subprime lending. S, a high percentage of these subprime mortgages, over 90% in 2006 for example, were adjustable-rate mortgages. These two changes were part of a trend of lowered lending standards and higher-risk mortgage products. When U. S. home prices declined steeply after peaking in mid-2006, as adjustable-rate mortgages began to reset at higher interest rates, mortgage delinquencies soared. Securities backed with mortgages, including mortgages, widely held by financial firms globally. Concerns about the soundness of U. S. credit and financial markets led to tightening credit around the world and slowing growth in the U. S. The crisis had severe, long-lasting consequences for the U. S. the U. S. entered a deep recession, with nearly 9 million jobs lost during 2008 and 2009, roughly 6% of the workforce. One estimate of lost output from the crisis comes to at least 40% of 2007 gross domestic product, U. S. housing prices fell nearly 30% on average and the U. S. stock market fell approximately 50% by early 2009. As of early 2013, the U. S. stock market had recovered to its pre-crisis peak, Economic growth remained below pre-crisis levels. Europe also continued to struggle with its own crisis, with elevated unemployment. The immediate cause or trigger of the crisis was the bursting of the United States housing bubble which peaked in approximately 2005–2006. However, once interest rates began to rise and housing prices started to drop moderately in 2006–2007 in many parts of the U. S. borrowers were unable to refinance. Defaults and foreclosure activity increased dramatically as easy initial terms expired, home prices fell, as housing prices fell, global investor demand for mortgage-related securities evaporated. This became apparent by July 2007, when investment bank Bear Stearns announced that two of its hedge funds had imploded and these funds had invested in securities that derived their value from mortgages. When the value of these securities dropped, investors demanded that these hedge funds provide additional collateral and this created a cascade of selling in these securities, which lowered their value further. Economist Mark Zandi wrote that this 2007 event was arguably the proximate catalyst for the market disruption that followed
26.
Collateralized debt obligation
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A collateralized debt obligation is a type of structured asset-backed security. Originally developed for the debt markets, over time CDOs evolved to encompass the mortgage. The CDO is sliced into tranches, which catch the cash flow of interest, if some loans default and the cash collected by the CDO is insufficient to pay all of its investors, those in the lowest, most junior tranches suffer losses first. The last to lose payment from default are the safest, most senior tranches, as an example, a CDO might issue the following tranches in order of safeness, Senior AAA, Junior AAA, AA, A, BBB, Residual. Separate special purpose entities—rather than the parent investment bank—issue the CDOs, as CDOs developed, some sponsors repackaged tranches into yet another iteration, known as CDO-squared, CDOs of CDOs or synthetic CDOs. In the early 2000s, CDOs were generally diversified, but by 2006–2007—when the CDO market grew to hundreds of billions of dollars—this changed. CDO collateral became dominated not by loans, but by lower level tranches recycled from other asset-backed securities, whose assets were usually sub-prime mortgages, the first CDO was issued in 1987 by bankers at now-defunct Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. for the also now-defunct Imperial Savings Association. During the 1990s the collateral of CDOs was generally corporate and emerging market bonds, after 1998 multi-sector CDOs were developed by Prudential Securities, but CDOs remained fairly obscure until after 2000. In 2002 and 2003 CDOs had a setback when rating agencies were forced to downgrade hundreds of the securities, from 2004 through 2007, $1.4 trillion worth of CDOs were issued. Early CDOs were diversified, and might include everything from aircraft lease-equipment debt, manufactured housing loans, to student loans, another selling point was that CDOs offered returns that were sometimes 2-3 percentage points higher than corporate bonds with the same credit rating. Advantages of securitization -- Depository banks had incentive to securitize loans they originated—often in the form of CDO securities—because this removes the loans from their books, the transfer of these loans to security-buying investors in return for cash replenishes the banks capital. This enabled them to remain in compliance with capital requirement laws while lending again, the low yield of the safe US Treasury bonds created demand by global investors for subprime mortgage-backed CDOs with their relatively high-yields but credit ratings as high as the Treasuries. This search for yield by global investors caused many to purchase CDOs, pricing models -- Gaussian copula models, introduced in 2001 by David X. Li, allowed for the rapid pricing of CDOs. Around 2005, as the CDO market continued to grow, subprime mortgages began to replace the diversified consumer loans as collateral, by 2004, mortgage-backed securities accounted for more than half of the collateral in CDOs. CDOs not only bought crucial tranches of subprime mortgage-backed securities, they provided cash for the funding of the securities. Between 2003 and 2007, Wall Street issued almost $700 billion in CDOs that included mortgage-backed securities as collateral, pooling low-rated tranches to make CDOs—helped push sales of CDOs to about $500 billion in 2006, with a global CDO market of over USD $1.5 trillion. CDO was the sector of the structured finance market between 2003 and 2006, the number of CDO tranches issued in 2006 was almost twice the number of tranches issued in 2005. CDOs, like mortgage-backed securities, were financed with debt, enhancing their profits, subprime mortgages had been financed by mortgage-backed securities
27.
AIG bonus payments controversy
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AIG is notable for having received taxpayer bailouts and in the fourth quarter of 2008 posted a loss of $61.7 billion, the greatest ever for any corporation. Beyond the $165 million in payments that were announced, total bonuses for the financial unit could reach $450 million. President Barack Obama said, t’s hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, how do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat. And In the last six months, AIG has received substantial sums from the U. S. Treasury, i’ve asked Secretary Geithner to use that leverage and pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole. Politicians on both sides of Congress reacted with outrage to the planned bonus payments, Senator Chuck Schumer accused AIG of Alice in Wonderland business practices and said It boggles the mind. He has threatened to tax the bonuses at up to 100%, Senator Richard Shelby said These people brought this on themselves. A lot of people should be fired, not awarded bonuses. Senator Mitch McConnell echoed his comments, saying This is an outrage, Senator Jon Tester said This is ridiculous. And AIG executives need to understand that the reason they even have a job is because of the taxpayers. Senator Dick Durbin said Ive had it, and The fact that they continue to do it while we pour in billions of dollars is undefensible. Representative Paul Hodes said I think AIG now stands for arrogance, incompetence, representative Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said paying these bonuses would be rewarding incompetence and These people may have a right to their bonuses. They dont have a right to their jobs forever, representative Mark Kirk said AIG should not be on welfare from Uncle Sam, and yet paying bonuses and transferring a considerable amount of taxpayer funds to entities overseas. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said It makes me angry, I slammed the phone more than a few times on discussing AIG. Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council, said The easy thing would be to just say, you know, ‘Off with their heads, ’ and violate the contracts. Austan Goolsbee, of the Council of Economic Advisers said I dont know why they would follow a policy thats really not sensible, is going to ignite the ire of millions of people. And You worry about that backlash, representative Barney Frank said I do want to stress, this initial intervention into AIG was not part of the congressional rescue plan. And Since then, when we have voted, we have put tough conditions on, and, in fact, this won‘t be happening again. Representative Thaddeus McCotter said in a speech to Congress, Every single Democrat in this House that voted for that bill voted to approve, Senator Jim Inhofe said that much of the blame for the bonuses should be directed at the 74 Senators who voted for the bailout
28.
Munich Re
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Munich Re Group or Munich Reinsurance Company is a reinsurance company based in Munich, Germany. It is one of the world’s leading reinsurers, ERGO, a Munich Re subsidiary, is the Group’s primary insurance arm. Munich Res shares are listed on all German stock exchanges and on the Xetra electronic trading system, Munich Re is included in the DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Euro Stoxx 50, and other indices. This was followed by the founding of Allianz Versicherungs-Gesellschaft in 1890, carl von Thieme was head of Munich Re until 1921, and Wilhelm von Finck served as Chairman of the supervisory board until 1924. Munich Re became renowned after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 as the insurer that remained solvent after paying out all the claims. In 2015 the companys equity amounted to €31.0 billion, the group’s premium income for the year was €50.4 billion, with its consolidated result amounting to €3,122 million. In February 2010, U. S. investor Warren Buffett became Munich Res largest single shareholder of the company, as of December 2015 he reduced his holdings to less than 3 percent. Besides its reinsurance business, the Munich Re Group also transacts primary insurance business through the ERGO Group and it assumes part of the risk covered by these insurance companies, as well as providing comprehensive advice on insurance business. In addition to its Munich head office, Munich Re has more than 50 Business Units around the world, Munich Re provides reinsurance cover for life, health, casualty, transport, aviation, space, fire and engineering business. In 2015, gross premiums written in the reinsurance segment amounted to around €28. 2bn, Munich Re’s primary insurance operations are mainly concentrated in the ERGO Insurance Group. ERGO writes all types of life and health insurance and most types of property and casualty insurance, outside Germany, ERGO is present in more than 30 countries around the world, servicing around 35 million clients. Members of the ERGO Group include the insurance subsidiaries D. A. S, DKV and Europäische Reiseversicherung AG, and the IT service provider ITERGO. With a gross premium written of about €16. 5bn in 2015, founded in 1999, MEAG MUNICH ERGO AssetManagement GmbH manages the assets of Munich Re, ERGO, and external clients. Their purpose is to manage and increase investments of Munich Re and ERGO, MEAG manages Munich Re’s global investments amounting to €227bn. BlackRock, München Free float is stated to be nearly 100%, Munich Reinsurance America American Modern Insurance Group Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company Accounts prepared according to IFRS. The Munich Re Foundation is an organisation, which was founded by Munich Re. The foundation is equipped with a capital of €50 million and works predominantly in newly industrializing and developing countries, the main topics of the foundation are, Environmental and climatic changes Microinsurance and poverty reduction Water as a resource and risk factor Disaster prevention. The prime concern of the foundation is to develop solutions for people at risk, the knowledge of Munich Res experts should therefore be translated into action
29.
Bloomberg L.P.
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Bloomberg L. P. is a privately held financial software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Bloomberg L. P. was founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981 with the help of Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Zegar, in 1981, Salomon Brothers was acquired, and Michael Bloomberg, a general partner, was given a $10 million partnership settlement. Bloomberg, having designed in-house computerized financial systems for Salomon, used his $10 million severance check to start Innovative Market Systems, Bloomberg developed and built his own computerized system to provide real-time market data, financial calculations and other financial analytics to Wall Street firms. In 1983, Merrill Lynch invested $30 million in IMS to help finance the development of the Bloomberg terminal computer system and by 1984, in 1986, the company was renamed Bloomberg L. P. and 5,000 terminals had been installed in subscribers offices. Within a few years, ancillary products including Bloomberg Tradebook, the Bloomberg Messaging Service, Bloomberg launched its news services division in 1990. Bloomberg. com was first established on September 29,1993 as a portal with information on markets, currency conversion, news and events. In late 1996, Bloomberg bought back one-third of Merrill Lynchs 30 percent stake in the company for $200 million, Bloomberg L. P. has remained a private company since its founding, the majority of which is owned by Michael Bloomberg. To run for the position of Mayor of New York against Democrat Mark Green in 2001, Bloomberg gave up his position of CEO, in 2008, Fenwick became the CEO of Bloomberg Ventures, a new venture capital division. Daniel Doctoroff, former deputy mayor in the Bloomberg administration, now serves as president, in September 2014, Bloomberg sold its Bloomberg Sports analysis division to the data analysis firm STATS LLC for a fee rumored to be between $15 million and $20 million. On July 9,2014, Bloomberg L. P. acquired RTS Realtime Systems, in 1992, Bloomberg L. P. purchased New York Radio station WNEW for $13.5 million. The station was converted into a format, known as Bloomberg Radio. Bloomberg L. P. bought weekly business magazine, BusinessWeek, following the acquisition, BusinessWeek was renamed Bloomberg Businessweek. In 2010, Bloomberg L. P acquired Eagle Eye Publishing and this acquisition became part of Bloomberg Government which was launched in early 2011. In 2009, Bloomberg L. P. purchased New Energy Finance, New Energy Finance was created by Michael Liebreich in 2004 to provide news, data and analysis on carbon and clean energy markets. Bloomberg L. P. acquired the company to become a resource for information to support low-carbon energy solutions. Liebreich continued to lead the company, serving as the executive officer until 2014. Bloomberg L. P. purchased Arlington, Virginia-based Bureau of National Affairs in August 2011 for $990 million to bolster its existing Bloomberg Government, BNA publishes specialized online and print news and information for professionals in business and government. On 16 December 2015 it was announced that Barclays had agreed to sell its business, Barclays Risk Analytics and Index Solutions Ltd, to Bloomberg L. P. for £520 million
30.
Fortress Investment Group
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Fortress Investment Group is an investment management firm based in New York City. As of June 30,2016, the firm managed approximately $70.2 billion alternative assets in private equity, liquid hedge funds, in 2014, Fortress Investment Group was named Hedge Fund Manager of the Year by Institutional Investor and Management Firm of the Year by HFMWeek. Fortress has previously recognized by Institutional Investor as “Discretionary Macro-Focused Hedge Fund of the Year” for 2012. Fortress Investment Group LLC was founded as an equity firm in 1998 by Wesley R. Edens. Rob Kauffman, a director of UBS, and Randal A. Nardone. Fortress quickly expanded into hedge funds, real estate-related investments and debt securities, run by Michael Novogratz and Pete Briger, Fortress Investment Groups investments grew rapidly, with its private equity funds netting 39. 7% between 1999 and 2006. In autumn 2014, Fortress hired Jeff Feig, formerly the Global Head of Foreign Exchange at Citigroup to join Novogratz as co-CIO of the Fortress Macro Fund. However, as of October 13,2015, the announced that the $2.3 billion Macro Fund was to close down. This development came after Feig stepped down as co-CIO of the fund in July 2015, according to the firm, Novogratz, the remaining CIO, was expected to retire from the firm by the end of 2015. On February 14,2017, SoftBank Group agreed to buy Fortress Investment Group LLC for $3.3 billion, on November 15,2006, RailAmerica Inc. announced that a Fortress-managed fund would acquire the company, offering $16.35 per share. The transaction was completed in February 2007, Fortress later sold RailAmerica via initial public offering in October 2009.5 billion. The Surface Transportation Board approved the transaction in September 2007, although RailAmerica operated FEC for a time, the two were never merged, and after the RailAmerica IPO Fortress retained FEC. On June 15,2007, Fortress announced that it would partner with Centerbridge Partners to acquire Penn National Gaming, Penn National shareholders were to receive $67 cash for each share. On July 3,2008, Fortress backed away from the agreement amidst the economic climate. Fortress co-chairman Wesley Edens assumes a seat on the board of Penn National as part of the agreement, Fortress has taken several of its portfolio companies public, such as Aircastle Ltd. Fortress has said it lost $125 million purchasing fraudulent promissory notes from Marc Dreier, Fortress filed a lawsuit against the law firm Dechert in an attempt to recover the loss. The lawsuit was filed in New York state court, alleging Dechert issued a legal opinion letter that Dreier used to defraud Fortress. Fortresss private equity investment portfolio includes Aircastle Limited, Alea Group Holdings Ltd, AMRESCO, Boxclever, Capstead Mortgage Corporation, CW Financial Services, Eurocastle Investment Limited, Flagler, Florida East Coast Railway, GAGFAH, GateHouse Media, Inc
US$ 52.4 billion (2016)[4]
US$ 498.3 billion (2016)[4]
. (2009)
