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• Witness: Barclays Didn't Make $5 Billion on Lehman
  
  Barclays PLC didn t make a $5 billion windfall on a $45 billion loan to bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. when it bought Lehman s brokerage business, an accounting specialist for the U.K. bank testified. The loan collateral was worth $45.5 billion, almost equal to...
• JPMorgan Braces for 'Difficult' Discover Purchase
  JPMorgan Chase has not ruled out the possibility of buying the Discover Financial Services network or another payments processing network, but such a deal would be very difficult, an executive told Reuters. It s always an opportunity, Chase Card Services Chief...
• Mortgage Rates Hit Decades-Low of 4.32 Percent
  U.S. mortgage rates fell in the past week to the latest in a series of record lows as yields on government debt dropped, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company. Rock-bottom rates offer a glimmer of hope...
• RBS to Cut 3,500 British Jobs, Close Offices
  
  Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Britain s biggest government-controlled bank, will eliminate 3,500 U.K. jobs and close 10 offices to reduce costs. The cuts in technology and administration will involve the closure of English offices including Leeds, Bolton, Telford and...
• Bundesbank Seeks Banker's Ouster for Comments
  
  Germany's central bank said Thursday that it will request the dismissal of a board member whose comments stereotyping Muslims and Jews drew outrage at home and abroad.The Bundesbank said in a terse statement that members of its six-member board unanimously agreed to ask...
• Treasury to Use Debit Cards for Some Tax Refunds
  
  A new Treasury Department program to give people without bank accounts faster access to their tax refunds will help some avoid costly short-term loans. But careless consumers could end up racking up fees and padding bank profits. The pilot program using debit cards has two...
• Report: SEC Probes Canceled 'Flash Crash' Trades
  U.S. securities regulator is looking into a Wall Street trading practice in which unusually large numbers of orders to buy or sell stocks are placed in a fraction of a second, only to be canceled almost immediately, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The...
• Berkshire Makes Formal Bid for Wesco Subsidiary
  Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has made a formal offer to buy the roughly 1.4 million shares it doesn't already own of subsidiary Wesco Financial Corp.Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett said in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that a proposal was delivered to...
• Lehman: Two Units Need Help to Avoid Failing
  Two struggling units of Lehman Brothers Holdings, the bankrupt U.S. investment bank, need hundreds of millions of dollars in capital to stave off failure that could cost Lehman billions, court documents show. Aurora Bank FSB, formerly known as Lehman Brothers Bank, has...
• Swedish Riksbank Hikes Key Rate to 0.75 Percent
  The Swedish central bank on Thursday hiked its key interest rate by aquarter of a percentage point to 0.75 percent, citing a pickup inexports and an improved labor market. The Riksbank said the rapidincrease in world trade has boosted Swedish exports and investments,...
• Source: AIG Files Application to List AIA
  American International Group Inc.filed an application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to list its Asian life insurance unit, AIA Group Ltd., a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The application brings bailed-out AIG a step closer to AIA's initial...
• Regulators Defend Actions on Lehman, Wachovia
  Federal bank regulators on Wednesday defended their actions leading up to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the purchase of Wachovia at the height of the financial crisis before members of an inquiry panel who criticized government oversight of the banks. The regulators...
• Source: JPMorgan Halting Proprietary Trading
  
  A source familiar with the situation says JPMorgan Chase Co. is shutting down its proprietary trading desks and eliminating dozens of jobs to comply with new restrictions on investment banks.The source spoke Tuesday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity...
• Fed Lets China Fund Lift Morgan Stanley Stake
  
  The Federal Reserve has approved a request by a Chinese sovereign wealth fund to acquire up to 10 percent of the voting shares of New York investment giant Morgan Stanley. The Fed, which regulates bank holding companies such as Morgan Stanley, approved the deal Tuesday on...
• Fuld: US Denied Lehman, but Helped Wall Street
  U.S. regulators did not grant Lehman Brothers the same assistance as its competitors, knocking out the possibility of an orderly unwind of the firm and aggravating the global crisis, former Lehman Chief Executive Dick Fuld said Wednesday. Fuld will tell a U.S. commission...
• Banks to Allow Local Groups to Buy Foreclosures
  Major banks are agreeing to give local governments and nonprofit groups the ability to buy foreclosed homes before they are sold to private investors. The Obama administration said Wednesday local officials could benefit from acquiring these properties and renovating them...
• Construction Activity Declines 1 Percent in July
  Construction spending tumbled in July to the lowest level in a decade, as the housing market struggles in the weak economy and without a popular home-buying tax credit. Construction activity dropped 1 percent in July, the third straight monthly decline, the Commerce...
• SEC Warns Agencies Against Deceptive Ratings
  Federal regulators are warning credit rating agencies that they could face civil fraud charges for giving inaccurate ratings to investments.The Securities and Exchange Commission issued the warning Tuesday in a report on its investigation into a possible violation of the...
• SEC Won't Pursue Fraud Case Against Moody's
  The Securities and Exchange Commission has declined to seek fraud charges against Moody's Investors Services over its ratings of risky investments that led to the financial crisis.But the SEC said it decided against seeking civil charges only because it determined it lacked...
• Report: Citigroup to Hire Up to 7,500 in China
  Citigroup Inc. plans to almost triple its workforce in China by hiring up to 7,500 people in the next three years, an executive told Bloomberg in an interview published on Tuesday. Citigroup, which has 4,500 employees in China, will hire more in that country that in any...
• First Niagara Cracks Top 40 of Biggest US Banks
  
  First Niagara Financial Group Inc.'s $1.15 billion takeover of NewAlliance Bancshares Inc. catapulted the regional bank to the 38th largest bank in the second quarter.It marked the biggest move on research firm SNL Financial's list of the 50 biggest U.S. banks and thrifts...
• British Mortgage Lending Hits Four-Month Low
  Net lending to British households unexpectedly fell to a four-month low last month after a sharp decline in mortgage lending, reinforcing economists' concerns that tight credit conditions may hamper future growth. While there was a small rise in the number of mortgages...
• Report: Fed Plans Stimulus if Outlook Worsens
  The outlook for the U.S. economy would have to deteriorate appreciably to spur fresh support from the Federal Reserve, minutes of the central bank's last policy meeting released on Tuesday said. The committee would need to consider steps it could take to provide...
• Anglo Irish Bank Seeks Bailout Amid Calls to Close
  
  Anglo Irish Bank said on Tuesday the bill for its rescue should not exceed 25 billion euros (20.6 billion pounds) but investors remained skeptical after mounting losses raised pressure on Ireland to shut down the nationalized lender. Once the poster child of the Celtic...
• Taiwan Rejects Primus Purchase of AIG Unit
  Taiwanese regulators on Tuesday rejected Primus Financial Holdings' planned purchase of AIG's Taiwan life insurance unit amid concerns that the Cayman Island-based firm may be backed by funds from rival China.American International Group Inc. announced the sale of the...

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