• At least six of the 19 largest U.S. banks will require additional capital, according to the results of the stress tests conducted by regulators. [BN]
• The U.S. economy took a tumble in the first quarter, with gross domestic product dropping at a 6.1 percent annual rate. [BN, WSJ]
• Citigroup has asked the Treasury department for permission to pay bonuses to a number of key employees. No word on how much or to whom. [WSJ]
• Meanwhile, Citi is looking to raise additional capital now that the bank came up short on its recent stress test. [DB]
• Daniel Bouton, the chairman of Societe General, is stepping down. [WSJ]
• Lazard posted a first quarter loss, and says it plans to cut jobs. [Reuters]
• Neel Kashkari's last day at work is Friday. Don't forget to send a gift! [DB]

Danny Pang, the very colorful financier accused of operating a Ponzi scheme that cheated investors out of hundreds of millions—and who the authorities believed may have fled to China—was taken into custody today in California by the FBI. [WSJ]

• Not such good news for Bank of America and Citigroup this morning: It looks like both have come up short on the so-called stress tests conducted by regulators and may be forced to raise billions in additional capital. [WSJ]
• Will Ken Lewis hang on as Bank of America's CEO when shareholders meet this week at the bank's annual meeting? It's a toss-up at the moment. [NYT]
• The Justice Department is investigating three AIG execs for committing securities fraud and a range of other financial crimes. [CBS News]
• The SEC is investigating 150 hedge funds, including various "Ponzi schemes and misappropriations," according to the agency's chief Mary Schapiro. [DB]
• Not such a hot idea: Mary Schapiro says she's now Twittering. [LAT]

The Way We Live Now: Panicky! Swine flu is happening so sell your stocks, for some reason! Japan is shrinking! The good grocery store went out of business! Where will we buy our 'Recession soup?'

• John Thain is striking back at Bank of America in an effort "to restore his sullied reputation," and accusing BofA's CEO, Ken Lewis, of lying. [WSJ]
• Thanks to rising profits, employees at several banks are on track to earn as much money this year as they did before the financial crisis. [NYT]
• UBS's head of investment banking, Jerker Johansson, is stepping down. [DB]
• Steve Rattner caught a break on Friday when Quadrangle Group investors decided not to shut down his scandal-plagued fund. [NYT, NYP]

The Way We Live Now: Fleeing the police, on foot. Who can afford cars? Let them all go bankrupt. All we need for our ATM robberies are a crowbar and a laid-off blesbok, for distraction.

David Kellerman, the Freddie Mac CFO who committed suicide this week, was told by HR to take some time off from work, shortly before he killed himself. The "job stress" scenario looks ever more likely.

• After a two-month wait, the nation's 19 largest banks will start to hear today how they did on those stress tests conducted by Washington regulators. [NYT]
• If the test indicates Citigroup will need more money to stay afloat, Vikram Pandit can probably kiss his job as the bank's CEO goodbye. [NYP]
• Andrew Cuomo is urging federal regulators to investigate allegations that Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke applied pressure to Bank of America chief Ken Lewis to go ahead with the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. [WSJ, NYT, CNN]
• Chrysler is preparing to file for Chapter 11 as soon as next week. [WSJ]

Steve Rattner may eventually face civil and/or criminal charges in connection with an alleged kickback scheme involving his investment firm, Quadrangle Group. Many suspect it's just a matter of time before the scandal forces President Obama to oust him as his point man on the auto industry bailout. There's speculation he'll face repercussions from Quadrangle investors as a result of the saga. And even if he manages to avoid any serious legal consequences, there's no question his rep has taken a big blow. But he has one person on his side: Michael Bloomberg!

Men who were problem-solving machines in finance have been laid off, and are now forced to do "family" activities. Silver lining: finally some dudes with real smarts to clean up these "PTA meetings" and shit!

• Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis testified under oath that Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson pressured him to keep quiet about BofA's plans to buy Merrill Lynch. [WSJ, CNN]
• Credit Suisse reported a profit of $1.7 billion for the first quarter. [BN]
• Executives from a bunch of credit card companies will face off against President Obama today over possible limits on fees and interest rates. [BN]

The media's had a good half day now to find out more about David Kellerman, the Freddie Mac CFO who committed suicide early this morning. He hung himself. The "job stress" scenario is looking plausible:

David Kellermann, the acting CFO of Freddie Mac who was found dead in his home this morning, hanged himself, according to police. "Some neighbors said Mr. Kellermann had lost a noticeable amount of weight under the strain of the job, and some said they had suggested that he should quit to avoid the stress." Kellermann reportedly hired a security firm to stand watch outside his home after reporters turned up at his front door to ask about his bonus. Hope you're happy, Charles Grassley. [NYT, WSJ]

Citigroup did its best to insure its annual meeting yesterday—the one at which angry shareholders harangued senior management—reflected a "sober" mindset. No glossy annual reports were handed out, Citi's CEO Vikram Pandit said the company had saved money by skimping on free coffee and doughnuts, and, according to the Times, there weren't any "red-frosted arc cookies in the shape of the corporate logo" either. Now we know why shareholders went without treats!

David Kellerman, the chief financial officer of money-bleeding mortgage firm Freddie Mac, was found dead in his Virginia home this morning. He'd apparently committed suicide. The financial crisis would be one obvious possible motive.

• Morgan Stanley reported a larger-than-expected loss for the first quarter this morning. The bank reported it lost $177 million, down from the $1.41 billion profit it collected during the same period in 2008. [WSJ, NYT, BN]
• David Kellermann, the chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, was found dead in his Virginia home, the result of an apparent suicide. [WaPo, BN]
• Things have gone from bad to worse for Steve Rattner: New York City's comptroller is investigating whether Quadrangle "intentionally misled or deceived" city pension funds by failing to disclose finder's fees. [WSJ]

What do you do when your career on Wall Street has come to an ignominious end and you need to keep busy lest you end up spending the rest of your days playing bridge or golf? Take a job in academia! Greg Fleming, the former president of Merrill Lynch, is now a member of the Yale Law School faculty: This semester, he's teaching a class that will explain the "economic events of the past year," which should also help Fleming shed some light on what exactly he was doing as the man in charge of risk management at Merrill Lynch the past few years. Fleming isn't the only one.

Mini-Madoff Allen Stanford, charged with Ponzi scheming his investors out of $8 billion, denies everything. He's a patsy! And so nervous that he just says random words that he thinks may form a denial-like statement:

Citigroup's annual meeting today was rather tumultuous, not surprisingly. Although the bank's incumbent directors were re-elected by a wide margin, a number of angry people got up to the microphone to vent their frustrations. When Citi's new chairman Dick Parsons took a moment to recognize the directors stepping down from the board—like former chairman Sir Win Bischoff and Bob Rubin—one man in the audience yelled out: "Thank God you've gone!" Gone, perhaps, but certainly not forgotten! [AP]

• Government officials—the people who essentially run Citigroup these days—have had talks about replacing CEO Vikram Pandit. About time! [FT]
• UBS is considering selling all or part of its hedge funds business. [Reuters]
• The Treasury Department's plan to rescue banks by having the government link up with private investors is "inherently vulnerable to fraud," says a government investigator, which is not very reassuring news. [WSJ, NYT]
• All the financial institutions that reported better-than-expected results may have also undermined investors' confidence in the sector. [NYT, DB]