Epic Pfizer pfat pfinger

One great solution to get started: TD Bank has agreed to pay the US government $3bn to settle allegations that it failed to prevent criminal organizations from using Canadian credit to launder hundreds of millions of dollars through its accounts.

And the great deal of Europe: US private equity firm CD&R’s €15.5bn bid has beaten rivals to the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi’s consumer healthcare division.

In today’s newspaper:

• Amazing campaign by Pfizer activists

• HSBC plan to save $300mn

• 7-Eleven tries to stop the customer

The empty email that rocked Pfizer

Developing a commercial vaccine for Covid-19 Pfizer‘s profit. At least for a while.

But a few years later, a massive cash injection made the 175-year-old drugmaker one of the world’s most successful. S&P 500 it has not lasted.

Its market capitalization has lost $180bn since the peak of the pandemic, essentially creating an open invitation for the activist investor.

At the end of the week, another appeared.

Starboard valuea hedge fund that has waged activist campaigns against some of America’s biggest names, from Bristol Myers Squibb to News Corphe quietly built a $1bn stake in the drugmaker.

The entry of an activist investor is not exciting enough for the company’s CEO and board. But the campaign has more action: Starboard partnered with a former Pfizer chief financial officer Frank D’Amelio and former chief executive Ian Bala for the purpose.

The FT’s Oliver Barnes and DD’s Maria Heeter and James Fontanella-Khan spoke to investors, consultants and insiders on the campaign to get the latest on how it went down.

It all started with an apparently accidental email on Sunday. CEO of PFizer Albert Bourla was in Ireland for an off-site board when he received an unexpected message in his email box.

The message was unusual: it was from D’Amelio, who had suddenly left the company three years ago, and it was empty. Three other Pfizer board members received similar blank emails from D’Amelio in quick succession.

Soon, Bourla and his three long-serving managers – Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayenin the past Deloitte manager Joseph Echevarria and Intuit a chair Suzanne Nora Johnson – they were fielding calls from the first two bosses, who encouraged Bourla to listen to Starboard.

Then, just three days later, their former teammates swooped in, supporting Bourla at Starboard. The move threatened to unravel the second largest investment the $8bn fund has ever made, with bonuses riding on its profile.

For one Wall Street veteran, the chaotic events added up to “the worst first week of an activist campaign in Wall Street history”.

Where is HSBC investment bank?

The first new shows HSBC chief executive George ElhederyPlans for a major European loan are emerging – and some bankers may be feeling very nervous.

Elhedery is working on plans to consolidate two of its three revenue-generating divisions: commercial banking, and global banking and markets. (The third factor is personal wealth and banking.)

The project will aim to save up to $300mn, DD’s Ortenca Aliaj and Kaye Wiggins report.

“[The merger] it will reduce administrative overhead,” said a person with knowledge of the planning process. “It will affect adults and other larger sections. . . That is the most expensive area and that is where the costs are.

It’s worth getting into the weeds a bit about what would change, including the balance of power within the bank.

Some of what these two groups do is similar, but for different sized customers (the commercial banking unit works for smaller customers). Both offer “global business solutions” such as trade finance, as well as lending and payment services.

In addition, the global banking and markets division includes HSBC’s investment bank and “market services and securities”, which includes finance, foreign exchange and credit markets.

Against that background, one option that is considered is placement Surendra Roshachief executive of the bank’s Asia-Pacific business, overseeing the commercial and global banks – which already have a lot in common – and Patrick Georgeglobal head of markets and securities services, overseeing the markets business.

That would reduce the value of HSBC’s investment bank, leaving it as a major business entity. It’s already small in the grand scheme of things: it was 1.5 percent of HSBC’s total revenue of $37.3bn in the first half of this year.

Another group of bankers who may be concerned are the heads of each area, in both countries they have a presence. Most of the functions of the two back units have been combined so, the money will come from the two control units.

In any case, the prospect of a recovery is already weighing on morale within the bank and Elhedery probably won’t want that to drag on for too long. He is expected to make an announcement later this month.

7-Eleven plans to break up

Breaking up and changing your name is often a frustrating step.

For the Japanese convention Seven & I may be part of an effort to prevent unwanted production of $47bn from Alimentation Couche-Tard.

On Thursday, the Japanese owner of 7-Eleven has said it will separate its retail operations from non-core businesses and list most of the redundant units.

It also said it will drop the name Seven & i – the “i” comes from it E-Yokadothe origin of the whole group but now part of the unwanted supermarket business – and “trying” (perhaps) to switch to 7-Eleven Corporation.

But will it be enough to keep investors happy?

Remember, these are the same investors who have been forcing the group to focus on its retail empire, its beating heart for far too long.

The problem, several shareholders told the FT, is that the new proposal has merits that need serious consideration.

“An improved Couche-Tard item for ¥2,701.98 [$18.18 a share] is about 13.1 percent above the average analyst price estimate of ¥2,390,” he added. Arun George of Global Equality Research.

The lack of second-quarter results will not help ease regulatory pressure.

The stock price reaction on Friday in Tokyo will be the first indication of whether policy action will ease the pressure.

Work is moving

• Ralph Hamersformer manager of UBShas become a senior external consultant to wealth management startups Arta Financial. Recently he was about to become the chief executive of Schrodersbut he lost the chief financial officer Richard Oldfield.

• Darktrace co-founder Poppy Gustafsson has been appointed as the UK’s investment minister, according to officials.

• Morgan Stanley you chose Julien Begasse de Dhaem, Mina Mitby and Rich Myers as the heads of a new class of independent banking markets.

• Citigroup you chose John Chirico and Jason Recate such as the heads of commercial banks. The bank has also been renamed Jens Welter head of the North American investment bank, while Nacho Gutiérrez-Orrantia will lead investment banking for Europe, the UK, the Middle East and Africa.

• Guggenheim Archives you have hired Jeff Cohen as a senior manager dealing with the investment process of the bank’s clients and stores. Most recently he was a senior advisor to UBS.

Smart reading

Odd hours Wall Street banks are famous for their long hours, reports the FT. But as more companies try to cut back on 100-hour work weeks, they’re running into the realities of an inefficient industry.

‘Mega Trials’ Top London lawyers are at the center of a fees bonanza as cases flood the UK, the FT reveals. Lawyers are working on it.

Lina’s big plan FTC Chairman Lina Khan has had a no-holds-barred approach to antitrust, Bloomberg Businessweek writes. You are just getting started.

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