From the NY Post:While Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has cracked down on the corrupt use of pension-fund “placement agents,” City Comptroller John Liu is cracking open the door for the return of the shady practice.
Liu, who manages investment of the city’s approximately $100 billion in pension funds, is urging the boards of the five retirement systems to lift a ban on the backroom intermediaries, who collect fees to help investment firms get lucrative business with the pension funds. Placement agents typically collect 1% to 2% of the funds they bring in from city and state pension systems. The fees can easily reach $1 million or more per transaction.
Several investment firms hired by the city pension systems have used Credit Suisse First Boston as a placement agent in the past. Liu’s new chief investment officer, Larry Schloss, resigned as chairman of the firm’s private-equity arm in 2003. Liu’s office said Schloss, whose city salary is $224,578, oversaw the placement agent division, among others, at Credit Suisse, but denied any conflict.
“Larry’s financial expertise makes him uniquely qualified for his position,” a Liu spokesman said. “He holds no stock in Credit Suisse, and left there more than five years ago.”
Uh huh. This is the Queens Tribune's Person of the Year and Queens Civic Congress' biennial Civic Convention and Luncheon keynote speaker.
