Financial Business Review: AIG Paying Uncle Sam, Facebook’s Underwriters

Travelers (NYSE:TRV) is retaining lower excess capital than its peer group, according to Morgan Stanley, who downgrades to the company to Equal-Weight in return.

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A Thursday night interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer gave BGC Partners (NASDAQ:BGCP) CEO Howard Lutnick an opportunity to boast about that company’s posh 9.6 percent yield and its promising growth prospects. Potential buyers must have liked it, as shares are trading higher Friday.

AIG (NYSE:AIG) is raising funds to pay back the U.S. government from its 2008 bailout. To this end it sells its $500 million investment in private equity firm Blackstone (NYSE:BX) as a part of a block trade, premarket on Friday.

Facebook’s (FB) $5 billion initial public offering will be underwritten by nine banks, including new arrivals Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), and Citigroup (NYSE:C), according to Bloomberg. As a part of the agreement Facebook also lands an additional credit line of more than $2.5 billion.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lawson at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com