Wall Street Brief: Barclays Chief BAILS, Google Declares WAR on Apple

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) CEO Bob Diamond caved to political pressure and resigned amid the Libor manipulation scandal. The news may come as a surprise to investors after Diamond said on Monday he was going to “fight back” and tell some negative details about regulators. The company’s chairman, Marcus Agius, is also supposed to resign but he will stay and assist in the hunt for a new CEO.

Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) money-losing Online Services division will take a $6.2 billion non-cash hit and primarily write down its 2007 $6.3 billion acquisition of the Internet ad agency aQuantive. Analysts see Microsoft making a $5.25 billion net profit in the fourth quarter but with the charge, the company could instead incur a loss for the period.

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Samsung is attempting to respond to a U.S. Galaxy Nexus injunction and is “working closely” with Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) to develop legal front against Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), reported The Korea Times. Google’s patents acquired from Motorola Mobility could help with Samsung’s cause. Meanwhile, a judge rejected Samsung’s request to lift the ban on Galaxy Tab 10.1′s U.S. sales.

Groupon’s (NASDAQ:GRPN) Chairman and co-founder Eric Lefkofsky has cut his role at the company while increasing his time at the venture capital firm Lightbank. This news and a Susquehanna research note likely added to Groupon’s 10.5 percent selloff on Monday. Ongoing concerns about Groupon’s CEO Andrew Mason probably didn’t help matters.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) will acquire Swiss Re’s $7.5B private equity arm. This comes as the insurer consolidates business in response to new regulations on risk-asset holdings. The terms of the all-cash deal have not been disclosed, but BlackRock expects a third quarter close.

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