Why hedge funds hate Yellen (more than a boy-girl thing)

Without even playing the gender card, it’s easy to see why hedge funds want anyone but frontrunner Janet Yellen to head the Fed: she’s never served on corporate boards, raked in big bucks to speak at investor conferences or consulted for hedge funds.

Delegates at the Skybridge Alternatives (SALT) Conference in Singapore yesterday said ex-U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner should join the shortlist to become the next Federal Reserve chairman.

In promoting the elite gathering hosted by SkyBridge Capital, HedgeCo.net said Geithner would “be speaking at the event along with other hedge fund luminaries.” Geithner’s been collecting money from Wall Street firms such as Deutsche Bank and Blackstone, which paid him about $200,000 and up to $100,000, respectively, for speaking engagements, the Financial Times reported in July.

Geithner, a Goldman Sachs alum, told New York Magazine in January, that it’s “extremely unlikely” he’d go back to collecting a paycheck from Wall Street.

Even being close to Geithner is enough to get you a big bite of Wall Street’s spoils. Financial disclosure forms from 2008-2009 showed that his closest aides earned millions a year working for firms like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Lee Sachs, then a counselor to Geithner, reported more than $3 million in salary and partnership income from hedge fund Mariner Investment Group.

Billionaire hedge fund managers Mark Lasry, CEO of Avenue Capital Group, and Glenn Dubin, CEO and chairman of Highbridge Capital, have been throwing their support to Wall Street insider Larry Summers.

A financial disclosure form released by the White House in 2009 revealed that Summers, at the time its top economic adviser, took home about $5.2 million in a year in compensation (for a part-time position) from hedge fund D.E. Shaw and accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from major financial institutions.

Yellen has no disclosure forms to fear. We reported Aug. 6 about the hidden sexism at play, and also how Yellen’s qualifications are undermined.

Rather than collecting copious amounts of cash from Wall Street, Yellen’s spent the last decade making decisions that have distinguished her Fed leadership. Hedge funds can make noise to ward off what they perceive as an intruder, but this dove’s likely to soar above any hawk.

FBI Nabs Longtime Madoff Accountant (DealBook)

Paul J. Konigsberg, an accountant in convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff’s inner circle, has been arrested by the FBI, according to people briefed on the case. The founding partner of now-shuttered Konigsberg Wolf & Company had a close business relationship with Madoff dating to at least the 1980s.

SEC Chair Calls for ‘Aggressive Use’ of Authority (Reuters)

Former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White said meaningful monetary penalties “make companies and the industry sit up and take notice of what our expectations are and how vigorously we will pursue wrongdoing.” Legislation that would have given the SEC authority to levy harsher penalties stalled, forcing the agency to ramp up its existing powers.

Citigroup to Pay Freddie Mac $39M Over Mortgage Debacle (Bloomberg)

The third-biggest U.S. bank agreed to pay the government-backed firm $395 million to resolve repurchase claims on bad mortgages. Citigroup announced a deal in July to pay Fannie Mae $968 million for loans over a similar period of more than a decade.

Ex-BofA Banker Charged with Sex Crime Says He’s Broke (Washington Post)

A 59-year-old former Bank of America executive accused of trying to have sex with a 13-year-old girl says he can’t afford an attorney and wants a public defender. A federal grand jury this week indicted Kirk A. Simmons on charges of attempted enticement and coercion of a minor and attempted production of child pornography.

KCG Close to $12M SEC Settlement Over Knight Glitch (Reuters)

The successor company to Knight Capital Group is close making a settlement of some $12 million with the SEC related to last year's trading glitch that disrupted equity markets and led to Knight's sale, sources, told Reuters. Knight disclosed in November that it was being probed by the SEC as to whether Knight complied with rules and regulations such as the "market access rule."

Get Ready for the Buyout Boom! (Bloomberg)

Blackstone Group President Tony James said the “good times” are just starting for private-equity firms because the U.S. economic recovery is still in its early stages, Europe has stabilized and China is rebounding. “Our view is that the private sector has grown three-plus percent and what’s really been a drag to GDP has been the government issues,” said Alex Navab, co-head of private equity for the Americas at KKR.

Buzz Around the Office

Oh, brother! ‘80s Wedding Video Toast is New Wave of Weird (YouTube)

Man has flashbacks after his Best Men-brothers unleashed this awesomely annoying – and really long -- music video for his wedding.

List of the Day: What Not to Ask on an Interview

An interview can be a great opportunity to learn more about your perspective employer, but don’t blow it by asking the wrong questions.

1. Avoid the obvious. Do not ask anything you can easily learn online. Do you research and ask educated questions.
2. Don’t ask for favors. Wait until you’re sure you’ve landed the job to ask about working from home, flexibility, vacation or other benefits.
3. Shun short-term talk. Don’t ask about promotions or offer other signs you’re just considering this role as a stepping-stone.

(Source: AOL Jobs)