bear stearns

Two Bear Stearns fund managers were arrested for securities and wire fraud this morning, becoming the first executives to face criminal charges in the wake of the subprime mortgage debacle. Wearing a polo shirt, a sport coat, and incongruous manacles, Ralph Cioffi was escorted from his home in Manhattan to federal court in Brooklyn under the bright morning sun, while his alleged co-conspirator, Matthew Tannin, was picked up in New Jersey, the AP reported today.

The nine-count indictment against the duo includes charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a separate complaint on Thursday, accusing Mssrs.  read more »

The day after Bear Stearns shareholders approved the firm’s sale to JPMorgan Chase, the clubby men’s salon frequented by the fallen masters of the universe was buzzing as usual.

Suited, silver-haired men and their early-middle-aged protégés reclined in chairs while getting preened and massaged by young women inside John Allen’s on 46th Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, barely a block from the now-former Bear Stearns headquarters at 383 Madison.  read more »

If you have the chance, get in on the ground floor of the Wall Street Journal's three-part series on the collapse of Bear Stearns. The first part debuted this morning under the headline "Lost Opportunities Haunt Final Days of Bear Stearns."

The story has everything--egos clashing, a confrontation in the office gym, ominous phone calls, bridge tournaments, and, of course, real estate (at least tangentially):  read more »

JPMorgan Chase's takeover of one-time investment giant Bear Stearns just got that much messier.

The Wall Street Journal reports today that 383 Madison LLC, the owner of the land on which Bear Stearns built its headquarters at 383 Madison Avenue, is suing Bear Stearns for violating a written agreement that allows the LLC to get first dibs on the building in the event of a sale:  read more »

I wrote in this week's paper about how, even after all the calamitous economic news (like Bear Stearns' collapse), Manhattan rents appear buoyant if not strong. Most of the average rents I cited were for one-bedroom apartments.  read more »

So sayeth Dolly Lenz regarding the Bear Stearns mess. The deific broker, whom my colleague Max Abelson sat down with earlier this year at the Four Seasons, was on CNBC and said:

"A lot of this has already been factored into the market. I think we're going to be perfectly OK, if not possibly better off."

Hat tip Curbed.

Bear Stearns chairman James Cayne was in Detroit at the start of the weekend that saw the tanking of his venerable investment bank. Why? Mr. Cayne was competing in the North American Bridge Championship, according to reports.

Also last week, as the perfect storm gathered, Mr. Cayne closed on a $25 million condo at the revamped Plaza.

The New York City rental apartment market is tied closely to the local economy, more so than the sales market. That market might see foreigners buying a lot of condos even as Americans lose their jobs. But the rental market--it tends to rise and to fall with the city's economy. Generally, job losses and uncertainty in New York translates into more vacancies and lower rents.

So the news that JPMorgan Chase and the Federal Reserve are acquiring Bear Stearns, the world's fifth-largest investment bank and one of New York's most prominent employers, could ultimately be good news for the city's renters. Grimly and pragmatically speaking, any layoffs could reduce the number of people who need to be in the city by thousands. That could free up apartments; and that greater vacancy could drive landlords to drop rents.  read more »

As the speculation around Bear Stearns turns from when and if to how and by whom, the below excerpt from The Observer's John Koblin shows just how far the investment bank has tumbled in little over a year. The excerpt is from a story dated Jan. 21, 2007.

When it comes to the relentless pursuit of prime Manhattan real estate in the last six months, Bear Stearns is unmatched.  read more »

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James Cayne, the recently resigned chief (but still chairman) of Bear Stearns, has bought a $25.8 million condo at the Plaza, according to city records.

It's been a rough year for Mr. Cayne, who left the embattled firm under a haze of recrimination following the collapse of two of its hedge funds that resulted in a $700 billion third quarter writedown in 2007 and a federal investigation. Perhaps his new 14th-floor pad will cheer Mr. Cayne up.

Investment bank Bear Stearns has reported its first-ever quarterly loss. The loss of about $854 million over the fourth quarter of 2006 exceeded fears about how badly the bank's investments in subprime mortgages would affect it, according to The New York Times.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that top executives at Bear Stearns would skip year-end bonuses for themselves.