The data was stolen by a former information technology employee about three years ago, the Geneva-based unit of HSBC said today in a statement. French authorities, which seized the data, have told their Swiss counterparts that they wont use the information “inappropriately,” the bank said.
“The bank does not believe that the stolen data has or will allow any third party to access any client account,” HSBC said in the statement. The accounts were all opened before October 2006, the bank said.
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Pandit agreed in February 2009 that he would only take a $1 salary for the year after the bank was forced to take billions in federal bailout money. But he had already received $125,000 in salary before making that announcement, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He received no bonus or stock awards.
His only other compensation was $3,750 in 401(k) benefits.
Pandits 2008 compensation package was valued at $38.2 million. However, almost all of that package was made up of restricted stock and stock options that are worth far less today.
Citigroups shares rose a penny to close - - - - >

Roslyn M. Brock, 44, was chosen to succeed Julian Bond. She had been vice chairman since 2001 and a member of the NAACP for 25 years.
Brock works for Bon Secours Health Systems in Maryland as vice president for advocacy and government relations, and spent 10 years working on health issues for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. She joins Benjamin Todd Jealous, the 37-year-old CEO of the NAACP, as leader of the 500,000-member organization.
Brock said she plans to focus on pushing for policy changes to eliminate inequality, strengthening the relationship between the national and local NAACP branches and holding people accountable.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday her government may buy stolen data on Swiss bank accounts as French authorities comb information acquired from an employee of HSBC Holdings Plcs private bank in Geneva. The cases come two years after Germany paid 5 million euros ($7 million) for details filched from LGT Group in neighboring Liechtenstein.
“This is a kind of business war against Switzerland in which practices which were completely illegal have become acceptable,” says Daniel Fischer, founder of Zurich-based Fischer & Partner law firm who specializes - - - - >

Citi Private Equity, which takes minority stakes in companies and invests in other buyout funds, oversees about $2 billion of Citigroups money, said the people, who declined to be identified because the sale talks are private. The rest is from outside investors. Managers of the decade-old unit, led by Todd Benson and Darren Friedman, have discussed buying it for themselves alongside new partners or with other financing, one person said.
Citigroup, 27 percent owned by the government following a bailout in 2008, is selling almost a third - - - - >

The U.S. Internet operator will “respect the wishes of any Chinese author who hasnt authorized their books to be scanned,” it said in a Jan. 9 letter to the China Writers Association and posted on the groups Web site. It also included an apology for “inadequate communication” with Chinese authors. Google spokeswoman Jennie Johnson confirmed the contents of the letter sent by Erik Hartmann, chief of Google Books in Asia.
Google should submit proposals to compensate Chinese authors whose works it included without approval and immediately stop - - - - >

Marshall & Ilsley tumbled 60 percent, the indexs biggest drop, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Huntington Bancsharesfell 52 percent, Citigroup dropped 51 percent and Zions Bancorporationdeclined 48 percent. Banks accounted for seven of the 10 worst performers in the index.
“The problem is primarily capital, dilution and credit,” said Gary Townsend, president of Hill-Townsend Capital LLC in Chevy Chase, Maryland. “There are still questions that remain with respect to the solvency of many banks, and those undoubtedly are the ones in which investors have the greatest - - - - >

Aiful triggered a settlement auction of credit-default swaps when it agreed to extend the maturity of loans to avoid bankruptcy, the International Swaps & Derivatives Associations Japan Determinations Committee ruled yesterday. The cost of Aiful swaps implies that sellers of protection on $1.3 billion of the companys debt will pay 75 cents on the dollar to settle contracts, CMA prices show.
The ruling ends a three-month dispute that threatened to undermine confidence in Japans default swaps market. The committee previously rejected three requests to trigger the contracts, - - - - >

Aiful triggered a settlement auction of credit-default swaps when it agreed to extend the maturity of loans to avoid bankruptcy, the International Swaps & Derivatives Associations Japan Determinations Committee ruled yesterday. The cost of Aiful swaps implies that sellers of protection on $1.3 billion of the companys debt will pay 75 cents on the dollar to settle contracts, CMA prices show.
The ruling ends a three-month dispute that threatened to undermine confidence in Japans default swaps market. The committee previously rejected three requests to trigger the contracts, - - - - >

The move came after investors responded tepidly to a massive stock offer by the New York-based bank. Citi said Wednesday it will sell 5.4 million common shares at a steep discount to raise the cash it needs to repay $20 billion of the $45 billion in government support it received to weather the financial crisis.
Citi is the last remaining Wall Street bank in which the government still owns a major stake. Treasurys move underscores the Obama administrations halting progress in drawing back the tens of billions of dollars it invested to stabilize the banking sector.
In what it called the largest - - - - >