GM Is Low-Key About Return to Stock Market [WSJ]
General Motors Co., though eager to shed the “government motors” stigma, will take a low-key approach to touting its return to the public markets.
GM’s $18.1 billion IPO is its biggest step yet away from being owned by the U.S. government, which rescued the auto maker and became its largest shareholder with last year’s government bailout. The offering will reduce U.S. Treasury’s stake from 61% to around 26%.
The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Bold, Controversial Stab at the Deficit and Tax Reform [TaxVox]
More details from TaxVox on the yesterday’s new deficit reduction proposal, “[T]his deficit reduction plan actually starts with a tax cut—a 2011 payroll tax holiday. The fun starts after that. The BPC would eliminate nearly all itemized deductions and kill or scale back most other targeted tax breaks. Among the ideas: It would restructure credits for low-income households by repealing the earned income credit and the child credit, while replacing them with a new child credit and a separate earnings credit. It would gradually eliminate the exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance. And it would tax capital gains and dividends as ordinary income, except for a very modest exclusion ($1,000 for couples) for long-term gains.”
The European Commission’s Green Paper on Audit: After the Posturing, an EC Agenda for Real Progress [Re:Balance]
Jim Peterson writes, “Having taken M Barnier to task, I was rightly challenged by readers to stop complaining and be constructive.” Accordingly, he has presented the message.
Leftish Think Tank: Film Credits Stink [Tax Update Blog]
Bipartisan opposition! Who knew it was possible?
FinReg May Hamper Job Growth [FINS]
New York’s Comptroller took a swing at D.C.’s financial reform measures in a report on the securities industry released this morning.
The office noted that measures to hamstring Wall Street compensation, prop trading and derivatives trading would crimp growth in the state’s overall workforce. Each securities job in New York creates two other jobs in the city and one position outside of the city, according to the comptroller.
Mark-to-Make-Believe Perfumes Rotten Loans [Jonathan Weil/Bloomberg]
Banks exploiting loopholes in fair value reporting rules? Get out!
2 Former Madoff Aides Are Arrested [DealBook]
Annette Bongiorno was arrested at her home in Boca Raton, Fla., and Joann Crupi was arrested at her residence in Westfield, N.J., the spokesman said. Both women worked for Mr. Madoff for more than 25 years. Ms. Bongiorno served as Mr. Madoff’s longtime personal secretary; Ms. Crupi, among other responsibilities, handled Madoff’s daily cash balances.
Qantas A380 suffered “cascade of failures”: report [Reuters]
The last thing you’re looking for when a plane is in the air is a ‘cascade’ of things going wrong.
FAF, FASB’s Parent Organization, Names Its First CEO [JofA]
Teresa S. (Terri) Polley gets the honor as well as keeping her old job as president.