In naming Gregory Abel and Ajit Jain vice chairs, Berkshire Hathaway took another big step this week in laying out LAWB (Life After Warren Buffet) – WSJ and NYTimes and Bloomberg

To be fair, the debt collectors were pretty good at collecting their own money. The IRS’s, on the other hand—that was a different story altogether – NYTimes

Xerox, still working on a magic bullet for its woes and facing a determined Carl Icahn, is in talks with Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings over a potential deal that could give both companies “a chance to root out costs and make their legacy businesses more efficient” – WSJ

A NY federal judge has revived Deutsche Bank’s claim that Morgan Stanley breached a contract by “failing to notify it about problems in the residential mortgage trust at issue in the $306 million suit,” finding that a change in the law since the claim’s original dismissal warranted vacating the earlier ruling – Law360

In case you were wondering, here’s why ears still perk up when bond vets like Bill Gross predict the coming of a bear market for bonds, even with a bad track record of predictions—1) something’s prompting him to weigh in (see China dialing back its years-long bond-buying spree) 2) the effects won’t be limited to bonds (see a falloff in bond prices rattling equities, too) – NYTimes and Bloomberg

Add Ford to the list of automakers accused of rigging diesel vehicles to beat emissions tests. The company disputes the claims, calling them “baseless” – Bloomberg

The White House intends to roll out suggested changes to the Community Reinvestment Act—a 40-year-old piece of legislation focused on the way banks make loans, investments, and donations to poorer customers.  Critics fear that changes to the CRA could mean less access to loans and banking services over time for less affluent Americans – WSJ

The SEC is reportedly close to issuing a proposal that would reassert its top-dog status [rather than the DOL] in the fiduciary duty standard context – AdvisorHub

Long-troubled Valeant Pharmaceuticals is out of the headlines these days but still working on a second act. CEO Joseph Papa has cut the company’s debt burden by $6 billion, though he’s far from out of the red [or the weeds] yet – Bloomberg

As we get ready to endure another wallop of snow and cold here in the North, one’s mind naturally wanders to, well, other places.  Thankfully, the Times has 52 such places to consider in year ahead – NYTimes