Now eight large brokerage firms have settled with Auction Rate Securities (ARS) investors. This afternoon Bloomberg News reports Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Deutsche Bank settled with state regulators. Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER) announced another prong of its settlement earlier in the day.

What are the terms of the settlement for the latest two? Bloomberg writes that "Goldman will buy back $1.5 billion of the securities and pay a $22.5 million fine. Deutsche Bank will redeem $1 billion of debt and was fined $15 million." In addition to the rogues gallery of big ARS issuers who have yet to settle, investigators are targeting medium-sized brokers -- Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW), Fidelity Investments and E*Trade Financial Corp. (NYSE: ETFC).

This leaves major ARS issuers lagging behind their peers. Here are three holdouts (with their 2007 municipal ARS issuance in parentheses):

• Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) ($3.7 B)
• RBC Capital Markets ($1.2 B)
• Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) ($1.1 B)

What are they waiting for?

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

If we needed another sign that private equity is passe, we need go no further than to look at the current issue of Fortune, which shares a parent, Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), with BloggingStocks. To be fair, Fortune added an update to its web site about the tottering deal. It's a shame because the Fortune article paints such a glowing portrait of Providence Equity Partner's CEO Jonathan Nelson and praises him for doing the biggest deal ever -- the $51 billion takeover of Bell Canada parent BCE (NYSE: BCE) whose stock is down 5.7% this morning.

Regrettably for Nelson and Fortune, the New York Times reports this morning that the deal looks to be imperiled. It quotes one executive who read the revised bank terms: "It's patently obvious that the banks have no intention of closing the deal." These banks -- led by Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Deutsche Bank, and the Royal Bank of Scotland -- sent revised terms to the consortium of buyers. which included higher interest rates, tighter loan restrictions and stronger protections for the banks, far exceeding the original terms.

Fortune has a photo of Nelson sitting in a comfortable chair with his hands in a position that communicates "I am smarter than you." It will be interesting to see whether he can use those smarts to close this $51 billion deal. If he does, then he will certainly deserve the encomiums that Fortune heaps on him. Fifteen months ago I appeared on CNBC to discuss whether private equity had peaked. I think Fortune's Private Money 2008 package answers that question in the affirmative -- with the cover story jinx.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns Citigroup shares and has no financial interest in the other securities mentioned.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) could announce a capital infusion of several billion dollars from outside investors as early as Monday, people familiar with the matter said. While final terms of the deal are still being worked on, the Wall Street Journal reported that the bank is expected to receive between $6B-$7B, in return the investor group would receive shares priced at roughly $23-$24 per share.
• According to people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is seeking to sell as much as $20B in debt to a 'collection of investors,' which include private-equity firms.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Telegraph reported that Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) is said to be considering a bid for Virgin Media Inc's (NASDAQ: VMED) television channels.
• The UK Times wrote that Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) and Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (NYSE: MER) will demoralize Wall Street this week with revelations of write-downs of $15B.

The Blackstone Group LP today submitted an update to its IPO filing. As usual, there is quite a bit of verbiage, but there are definitely some interesting develops.

That is, the firm has put together a sterling board of directors.

First, there is William Parrett. He is a senior partner at Deloitte & Touche USA LLP and will be critical in helping Blackstone deal with audit/financial matters.

Next, there is Lord Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild (yes, that's quite a name). He is the founder of RIT Capital Partners and is a veteran of money management.

And, finally, there is the Right Honorable Brian Mulroney. From 1984 to 1993, he served as the 18th Prime Minister of Canada. He is now a senior partner at Ogilvy Renault LLP.

So what's the director compensation? There will be an annual cash retainer of $100,000 and an equity grant of 10,000 deferred restricted common units.

The Blackstone IPO should hit the markets soon. The price range for the offering is $29-$31 and the proposed ticker symbol is BX. The underwriters include Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER), Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS), Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH), and Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.