A CEO's Big Stake In Saving Jefferies

摘要

After MF Global filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31, the spotlight shifted to Jefferies Group, another New York investment bank, as investors looked for other firms that might suffer losses on bonds of troubled European nations. When speculation arose that a liquidity crunch and bond losses would sink the company, Jefferies Chief Executive Officer Richard Handler rushed to counter it, branding those ideas "malicious lies" spread by people "whose interests are absolutely opposed to yours and ours," in a letter to "Clients, Shareholders, Bondholders, Employees and Friends" posted on the company's website on Nov. 21.