Bear Unit Gets New Chair/CEO

Jeffrey B. Lane has been named chairman and chief executive officer of the troubled Bear Stearns Asset Management, according to The Bear Stearns Cos.Richard Marin, former BSAM chairman and chief executive officer, will remain with BSAM as a senior adviser to Mr. Lane. Before joining BSAM, Mr. Lane was a vice chairman of Lehman Brothers and chairman of Neuberger Berman Inc. He was previously vice chairman of Travelers Group and of the company's Smith Barney subsidiary. Merrill Lynch recently liquidated approximately $850 million in subprime-related assets seized from at least one Bear Stearns hedge fund after the fund failed to meet its margin calls. In a subsequent conference call, Bear Stearns chief financial officer Sam Molinaro said the Wall Street firm was trying to restructure the hedge fund (and a similar one) but that the process could take several months.