The Hall of Fame
Which CEO admitted a $40bn mortgage securities portfolio “wouldn’t excite my attention”?
Our friends at Hereisthecity. com have been busy wading through The Financial Cri- sis Inquiry Report in search of little gems. And here’s one that caught the HoF’s eye last month. “The CEO of Citigroup (actually it was former CEO Chuck Prince) told the Commis- sion that a $40bn position in highly rated mortgage securities would ‘not in any way have excited my at- tention’, and the co-head of Citigroup’s investment bank said he spent ‘a small fraction of 1%’ of his time on those securities. In this instance, too big to fail meant too big too manage’. Source: The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
Four way split at BoE Confusion at Mortgage Introducer Towers last month on how a nine member committee can be split four ways. Fortunately David Smith, econom- ics editor at The Sunday Times, was on hand to an- swer the conundrum. “In theory it would be possible for the nine dif-
ferent members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee to vote in nine different ways,” he explained. “In practice, the current four-way split - one 0.5 point hike (Sentance), two 0.25 (Weale and Dale), five no change and one for more quantitative easing (Posen) - is about as divided as it gets.” So there you have it.
Mortgage Introducer wins “hardest hacks” survey The editorial team at Mortgage Introducer has topped the inaugural Wriglesworth Hardest Hacks in Mortgage Journalism survey. The survey placed Mortgage Introducer in the
top spot based on the team’s potential to cream their peers in a massive scrap. Staff at Wriglesworth were polled after a torrent
of editor-to-editor aggression was found in one re- cent online blog. The judges were asked to look at the teams involved in the mortgage press and de- cide who would be most likely to come out on top in the event of a massive six-way tussle. In their comments, the judges noted Sarah Da-
vidson and Nia Williams “looked like they had the capacity for wino violence”. The judges also high- lighted that “Davidson’s one of the only Scottish participant in the rumble” and pointed out that she had looked like she could deliver “a sweet Glasgow kiss”.
Indeed. 58 MORTGAGE INTRODuCER APRIL 2011
Congratulations to Elaine Sweeney who will shortly receive £50 of John Lewis vouchers courtesy of Kensington.
Birthday bash to
beat ‘em all The Mortgage Introducer Birthday bash was a rip roaring success last month. The mortgage industry was out in force on St Patrick’s Day with many joining the HoF in the plush Dover Street Wine Bar, celebrating into the wee small hours (ed - some more than others, ahem).
The exclusive bash
proved irresistible for some and the HoF had to turn back former foot- baller Viv Anderson MBE. Anderson, who played for Nott’s Forest, Arsenal, Man Utd and Sheffield Wednesday, was also the first black football player to represent England in a full international match. Alas, all that football prowess couldn’t buy him a ticket to the hottest bash in town. Talk about being kicked into touch.
It’s a promise of a star turn Promise Dreams, the charity set up by the directors of the secured loan master broker, Promise Solutions, to help terminally and seriously ill children, steps into the Hall of Fame this month for raising £59,000 at its 10th Birthday gala dinner. Steve Walker, a founding trustee of the charity and managing director of Promise Solutions told the HoF: “The evening was a fantastic success. The money we raised will take us close to £2million raised since the charity started in 2001 and should give us enough to support the dreams of our 1000th child.” To Walker and all the staff at this incredible charity, the HoF salutes you.
Celebrating success: above left-to-right: Steve Bull MBE; Suresh Bawa (directors of Promise Solutions); Steve Walker and and Don Goodman (ex-wolves and TV presenter - charity Patron).
Just take a look at this photo of an England training session and work out where the ball is.
Photocopy the page, put a cross where you think the centre of the ball is, and send it – along with your name and address – to Nia at the address on page 3. Good luck!
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