Color-coded armband-organized.

Ergo Versicherungsgruppe, [a Munich Re subsidiary] hosted the party for about 100 guests at the historic Gellert spa, Handelsblatt reported in a preview of an article to be published tomorrow. Women wore color-coded armbands, the newspaper said, citing unidentified guests, with red for hostesses, yellow for those available for sexual favors and white for women reserved for executives and top agents. After each trip to beds set up near the thermal baths, a woman would receive a stamp on her forearm, the paper reported… Senior management involved in organizing the event are no longer employed at Ergo, he said.

According to a spokesman for the unit, standard incentive trips for especially successful salespeople “definitely don’t usually proceed the way it’s described.”

Munich Re Says Prostitutes Attended Reward Party [Bloomberg via BI]

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Say what you will about the Germans, they took this stuff in stride.

Stefan Krause, who left the auto industry after a 20-year career to join Deutsche Bank AG as chief financial officer [and whose office is decorated with seven model cars, including a Corvette from 1962 -- his birth year -- a Roy Lichtenstein BMW art car and a BMW hydrogen- powered vehicle], had a memorable introduction to the banking world in April 2008. On his first day, Germany’s biggest lender announced a record loss on loans and asset-backed securities.

“They said, ‘Stefan, welcome, we have to write down 2.5 billion euros,’” says Krause, a boyish-looking 48-year-old whose office overlooks the Frankfurt skyline. Ten months later, the bank posted a record 3.8 billion euro ($5.4 billion) loss — its first full-year deficit since World War II.

[Bloomberg via BI]

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As we have previously discussed, the renaming of the NYSE, post Deutsche Börse merger, is a delicate dance in which lots of people must be made happy. Though the Germans will own 60 percent of the company, many in New York are preemptively apoplectic over the notion of DB getting top billing. Chuck Schumer, for instance, has stated that he will handcuff himself to Maria Bartiromo’s desk in the event his town doesn’t come first (a threat NYSE chief exec Duncan Niederauer took seriously, by stating “DB NYSE” will not be an option). What to do? Hire a special task force and give everyone who wants it an opportunity to put in his/her two cents.

According to the Journal “a group of branding specialists” will recommend names and in addition, the exchanges “will appoint a committee of marketing and legal specialists to sift through more than 1,000 suggested names submitted by employees of both companies.” So far raised: NYSE-DB (but Deutsche Bank might take issue), Global Exchange (though a human rights group already called dibs), überMX (submitted by Alex Frankel, author of “Wordcraft: The Art of Turning Little Words into Big Business”), Cherubs Denote Yeses (an anagram of Deutsche Börse NYSE), and Thunderbird (which Dean Crutchfield likes because eagles are important to both the US and Germany though he may also have a thing for low-end fortified wine.

If you think you could do better, have at it.

The ABC’s Of Renaming The NYSE [NYSE]

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The fellow pictured at left is 28 year-old German banker Steffen Korbach. He looks pretty happy because he’s got that cool shirt on and because the photo was taken prior to his totaling a £1.4million Pagani Zonda F Clubsport Roadster (only one of 25 in the world). Let’s hear his story.

Korbach crashed on the A10 autostrada as he was on his way to Milan for the official presentation of a new Pagani Huayra – which he recently ordered. A source said: ‘He was driving through roadworks at the speed limit, but when they ended he accelerated up to just over 100kmh (62mph) and hit a pool of surface water which caused the car to aquaplane. ‘Even though Steffen is an experienced supercar driver, he couldn’t correct the Zonda’s position and he collided with the roadside barriers.

‘The car doesn’t have airbags so he was lucky to escape unharmed – it shows how safe the passengers’ cell is in these sorts of cars.’ Mr Korbach said that the lively Zonda F Clubsport Roadster can be difficult to control in certain road conditions.

Now the car looks like this:

But don’t fret my pets- this story has a happy ending. Korbach and his passenger were unharmed and he’s got a bunch of other toys to comfort him during this difficult time.

As well as his new Huayra – Pagani’s replacement for the Zonda – Korbach owns two Bugatti Veyrons, two Lamborghinis and a Porsche-based Gemballa Mirage. He has also ordered the new McLaren MP4-12C – widely anticipated to be Britain’s greatest ever supercar. The Italian Zonda, with its rear-mounted V12 engine, produces 650bhp and is capable of doing 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds. It has a top speed of 214mph and lapped the Top Gear track quicker than the Bugatti Veyron. Tommy Wareham, director of dealer Super Vettura, said: ‘The Pagani Zonda is quite possibly the last ever true-blooded supercar – it’s a ferocious poster car for the 21st century.

£1.4m supercar mangled in most expensive smash in history – and driver walks away with a bruise [Daily Mail via BI]

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Apparently at his new firm, Lippman is able to clock out earlier because he’s focused on “one thing and one thing only, which is making money.” At Deutsche Bank, there were a lot of other responsibilities that sucked up his time, like coddling Germans and updating his Sushi Spreadsheet.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

When one considers the many, many reasons to admire Stephen Schwarzman, difficulty arises in keeping the list to a manageable length. An abridged version, a mere fraction of his attributes, would include building Blackstone with own two hands, his support of literacy, his vision and execution in creating Yale’s first Ballet Society, his passion as it relates to the carried interest debate, on which he is not afraid to speak his mind, and his undying commitment to do right by clients.

Today another bullet point must be added, with regard to this:

That’s right, ladies! Something you might not have known about Mr. Schwarzman is that this Wall Street powerhouse? Can put himself together a Halloween costume! For the ignoramuses among us, that’s Schwarzman bearing an incredible likeness to Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, right down to the leather gloves and Swarovski-encrusted rings. Meanwhile, you have Kravis taping some pictures to his shirt of a bunch of centerfolds he cut out of magazines and telling people he’s “a chick magnet.” No contest.

Halloween [NYSD]

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Cuts going down circa now.

The scheduled layoffs of 5 percent of the Global Markets workforce we reported last month are apparently occurring this afternoon (though they’re thought to be more like 7 percent). So far affected: interest rate sales and fixed income sales, with at least one director getting the boot. That’s all the info we have right now (if anyone would like to share anything, feel free to do so at this time).

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

It was the height of 1992 European currency crisis.

Like today, the Euro zone’s politicians, especially the Germans, were standing pat refusing to prop up the value of the pound. Currency traders had already forced the devaluation of the Italian lira and Stan Druckenmiller, the chief PM of George Soros’ Quantum Fund, already had a $1.5 billion bet against the pound. But, he was ready to go further, based mostly on unofficial comments from Helmut Schlesinger, the president of the German Bundesbank, who indicated that a devaluation of the pound was in the offing.

Druckenmiller was thinking about slowly adding to his position. But Soros said “go for the jugular.”

From More Money Than God, Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite. Sebastian Mallaby’s new book about the history of hedge funds:

Druckenmiller could see that Soros was right: Indeed, this was the man’s genius. Druckenmiller had done the analysis, understood the politics, and seen the trigger for the trade; but Soros was the one who sensed that this was the moment to go nuclear. When you knew you were right, there was no such thing as betting too much. You piled on as hard as possible.

For the rest of that Tuesday, Druckenmiller and Soros sold sterling to anyone prepared to buy from them. Normally they left it to their traders to execute orders, but this time they got on the phones themselves, searching for banks that would agree to take the other side of their orders. Under the rules of the exchange-rate mechanism, the Bank of England was obliged to accept offers to sell sterling, but this requirement only held during the trading day in London. With the Bank of England closed for business, it was a scramble to find buyers, particularly once word got around that Soros and Druckenmiller were selling crazily.

We all know what happened after that.

Go for the Jugular [Atlantic Monthly]

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Germany said “auf Wiedersehen” to naked short selling, but it appears the ban is doing nothing but raising fears that Europe is in the midst of a financial crisis of its own. Traders are already clamoring to close out open positions, but who knows if the ban will really prevent a financial calamity.

Germany’s BaFin financial services regulator said it instituted the ban because “exceptional volatility” in euro-area government bonds and credit-default swaps, massive short-selling was leading to excessive price movements which “could endanger the stability of the entire financial system.”

The ban on naked short-selling of CDS and European government bonds takes place starting at midnight on lasts until March 31, 2011. It also applies to naked short-selling in shares of 10 banks and insurers.

They include: Aareal Bank AG, Commerzbank AG, Deutsche Bank AG and Deutsche Postbank AG, insurer Allianz SE; reinsurers Hannover Re AG and Munich Re AG; Generali Deutschland Holding AG, MLP AG, and Frankfurt stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse AG.

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What are they doing about it? Considering their options, that’s what.

According to people familiar with the matter, a number of employees — including some of the bank’s most talented and highest-paid people — are feeling that they aren’t being fairly compensated for their work in helping the bank weather the financial crisis without having to be bailed out by the German government.

Sources said the frustration has the potential for creating a real headache for CEO Josef Ackermann, who runs the risk of losing talent in the bank’s trading operation, which is considered the second-most profitable behind Goldman Sachs. One group of bond traders that has already left over pay includes Jerry Cudzil and David Malvern, who were part of a team that took over a book of business from Deutsche Bank’s former head of credit trading, Boaz Weinstein.

Apparently management thinks it’s paying its employees just fine but is the victim of “an unusual wave of poaching from rivals like Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Credit Suisse.”

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker