Erased

Ticonderoga Securities, the New York brokerage with about 75 employees, will halt operations, according to people with knowledge of the decision.

Paydays

Christy Romero, the deputy special inspector general, says private execs and Treasury officials pressured pay czar Kenneth Feinberg to allow seven banks and businesses to bypass pay restrictions established in the $700 billion bailout.

Mudd slide

Fortress Investment Group said Daniel Mudd resigned as CEO and a director of the hedge fund and PE firm after a leave of absence to respond to a government lawsuit.

Directors cut

Morgan Stanley appointed 210 managing directors, the fewest to achieve the company’s highest rank since 2008. The number of employees at the New York-based firm declined to 61,899 at Dec. 31, down from 62,542 a year earlier.

Weather man

Weather Channel said it has named David Kenny, a Yahoo! director, as its new chairman and CEO, taking over from Mike Kelly.