Alpine Gold Vaults are the New Swiss Bank Accounts

In a vast alpine bunker in Switzerland, a 3.5-ton metal portal coded with an iris scan and facial-recognition software leads into a gold vault set in a labyrinth of tunnels once used by the Swiss army. In an environment where physical assets like gold are prized over paper investments, subterranean alpine vaults with ironclad secrecy and top-notch security are the new Swiss bank accounts. – September 30 / Bloomberg

Wall Street's Spiritual Guru

Khemaridh Hy left BlackRock Inc. one and a half years ago, at age 35 and head of the asset manager's $22 billion fund-of-hedge funds. Today, he spreads messages to his former colleagues on Wall Street such as, «In the journey of life, don’t we want to be long-call options?». A look at the spiritual guru helping Wall Street his its numbers faster. – September 30 / Bloomberg

Goldman Banker Goes from $9 Million Payday to «Disappearing» in Libya 

On a July morning, Goldman Sachs banker Youssef Kabbaj got word of a $9 million payday. Just hours later, Kabbaj's biggest client angrily threatened to «make him disappear» after losses of more than $1 billion. The journey of Goldman's banker in Libya, who organized everything from London musical tickets to prostitutes for clients he called «brothers and friends before clients». – September 29 / Bloomberg

The Tax Audit from Hell for the Super-Rich

Further proof that the rich aren't like you and me: they have their own dedicated «wealth squad» within the Internal Revenue Service. If your gross income is more than $10 million, you stand a one in four chance of being audited by highly trained specialists in a process that has been described as «the audits from hell that your grandfather warned you about.» – September 28 / Bloomberg

Malaysian PM's Wife Won't Be «Leading by Example» After all

A children's charity founded by Rosmah Mansor, wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, was set to receive a «Lead by Example» award at from a UNESCO partner organization in New York. A graft probe into state fund 1MDB has led to Mansor's organization effectively being booted from the list of honorees. – September 19 / Channel News Asia

Deutsche Bank CEO Puts BlackRock's Larry Fink on the Spot

John Cryan has his hands full with the turnaround of Deutsche Bank, but the former Warburg investment banker took the time to publicly needle BlackRock's Larry Fink about the shift in power towards major asset managers since the financial crisis. – September 15 / New York Times

PM's Wife's Love of Birkin Bags, Jewelry Takes Center Stage

Malaysian PM Najib Razak's wife is coming under increasing scrutiny as a billion-dollar probe into alleged corruption at state fund 1MDB heats up. Rosmah Mansor's collection of iconic Birkin bags from luxury firm Hermes is raising questions – as well as her connections to elusive financier Jho Low. – September 12 / Wall Street Journal

1MDB: What’s a Few Missing Billions Among Friends?

U.S. president Barack Obama has hosted Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak as a golf buddy, so when a billion-dollar graft scandal at Malaysia state fund 1MDB came to roost in the U.S., it presented a diplomatic conundrum. Will the prime minister face criminal charges over the affair? – September 1 / CNBC