Media Navel Gazing by Mark Kollar

Lehman came under fire again, as a 2,200-page report by US court-appointed Anton Valukas painted a dire picture of the fallout amid allegations of breach of fiduciary duties; KKR and Chicago Board Options Exchange increased moves toward listing, a good sign for the IPO market; swaps took the spotlight as the CFTC chairman in a speech called for limits on credit-defaults swaps; and Lindsay Lohan continued with her “milkaholic” lawsuit against E-trade.

WALL STREET BACK, WITH FIRST PLACE TIE WITH LONDON'S CITY
London slipped a bit in 2009 and New York City moved back up the ranks to tie with the City as the financial capital of the world, in the Global Financial Centres Index, compiled by Z/Yen for London’s financial district. London suffered from concerns about new taxes and regulatory issues, while New York improved in the ranks because of a better business environment, resources and infrastructure. Third and fourth spots were in Asia, at Hong Kong and Singapore, respectively. Good showing for New York, where the brunt of the financial downturn took place and good showing for bragging rights. Now to break the tie.

ONLY IN AMERICA, OR MAYBE BANK OF AMERICA
From the strange-but-true files, the bank sent a rep in its Pittsburgh region to a home believed to be in default, who cut utilities, padlocked the door and stole the bank customer’s parrot. Amid apologies, the bank admitted the homeowner was not in default, and the victim sued, alleging the whole incident has caused emotional distress.

SLIM IS PHAT DOWN SOUTH
Telecom billionaire Carlos Slim became the world’s richest man at $53.5 billion in Forbes magazine’s annual and closely watched Richest People list, besting Bill Gates by a half billion dollars and Warren Buffett by $6.5 billion. China contributed 64 billionaires, the second highest among nations, with 403 from the US and 62 from Russia. Slim, remember, helped to bail out The New York Times last year, which shows the Grey Lady is still all the news that fit to print…money.