US Probes JPMorgan’s Ties to Iranian Oil Kingpin’s Hedge Fund [Bloomberg via Yahoo!]
The probe is at an early stage as the agency scrutinizes whether the New York-based bank complied with all rules and regulations when it took on Ocean Leonid Investments Ltd. as a client, according to people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity as the information isn’t public. The entity was recently suspended by Dubai’s financial free zone…. An Ocean Leonid representative previously said in response to the Bloomberg News investigation that the company categorically rejects the allegation that [Hossein] Shamkhani is involved in or oversees the entity.
Trump Considers Warsh Serving as Treasury Secretary—and Then Fed Chair [WSJ]
Trump is thinking about appointing the investor Scott Bessent to lead the National Economic Council with an eye toward nominating him as Treasury secretary later in his term if [Kevin] Warsh becomes Fed chair…. Trump’s aides often caution that he is prone to changing his mind. He could decide not to pick Warsh or Bessent for these roles and instead select one of the other top contenders to lead Treasury, such as Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler will step down Jan. 20, make way for Trump replacement [CNBC]
Trump has not announced his pick to lead the SEC, but the expectation is that the next chair will be friendlier to Wall Street and crypto…. Trump could have the opportunity to quickly reshape the SEC. In addition to Gensler’s soon-to-be-vacant seat, the terms of two of the other four commissioners expire in either 2024 or 2025.
DirecTV to Scrap Merger With Rival Dish [WSJ via MSN]
The decision came after a rebuke from bondholders representing about $10.7 billion of debt in Dish and its DBS subsidiary. The broader tie-up depended on the creditors’ approval…. Private-equity firm TPG is still set to buy the remainder of DirecTV it doesn’t already own from AT&T but now faces the prospect of managing a debt-laden business without the benefit of future cost savings to lift its trajectory.
Judge Tosses SEC Treasury Dealer Rule in Hedge Fund Win [Bloomberg via Yahoo!]
The regulator could still appeal, but the ruling is the latest legal setback for SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who announced Thursday he plans to step down in January…. To challenge [U.S. District Judge Reed] O’Connor’s decision, the SEC would need to take its case to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which recently struck down a separate SEC rule requiring more fee transparency from hedge funds and private equity firms. The SEC abandoned its legal fight over that rule.
Citadel founder Ken Griffin says he’s open to selling stake in hedge fund [Reuters via N.Y. Post]
“We take great pride in being in a private partnership. It has served us well for 30 years,” he said when asked a potential consolidation in the hedge fund industry. Still, he said he “would be open to the possibility of selling a minority stake in Citadel at some point in the future….” Griffin said the focus on Citadel Securities now is on the growth of the business and that an initial public offering should not happen “in the foreseeable future.”
