"Who is this?"
"It’s Vikram."
"Vikram? Who is Vikram?"
"Vikram Pandit."
"Well, Vikram Pandit, shut up. This deal has been done."
Alleged altercation between Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase, and Vikram Pandit, chief executive of Citi, on a conference call of leading bank CEOs hosted by US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to discuss JPM’s takeover of Bear Stearns (see Abigail Hofman column)
"You can call these funds what you like, but they are not Shariah-compliant."
A hedge fund manager questions the legitimacy of hedge funds in Islamic finance. Still, he plans to launch – wait for it – a Shariah-compliant fund of hedge funds in the US (see Shariah compliancy needs transparency)
"Someone said to me the other day that leverage is like a drug: once you have taken it, you can’t live without it. Using leverage in liquid assets is fine. But leverage in illiquid assets takes you to hell."
Philippe Jabre, star hedge fund manager, on how to avoid danger in the market (see Hedge funds: Batten down the hatches)