Category: Business

(Reuters) - Insurer American International Group, or AIG, is looking to move into residential property loans with plans to make what company representatives called direct investments in mortgages, the Financial Times reported Sunday.Reuters

FRANKFURT Deutsche Bank has cleared its chairman of accusations by shareholders that he was partly to blame for the bank's poor cooperation with authorities over alleged rate-rigging, daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung has cited financial sources as saying.Last year, Deutsche Bank agreed to settle a case over the alleged manipulation of interbank rates such as Libor for a record $2.5 billion with U.S. and British authorities, which had accused the lender of obstructing their investigations. Some shareholders subsequently accused Chairman Paul

By David Henry | NEW YORK NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase & Co is once again facing questions about who will succeed its larger-than-life chief executive after Jamie Dimon was courted by the incoming U.S. president for the role of Treasury secretary.Dimon, 60, has been running the largest U.S. bank for more than a decade and has faced questions about his longevity

By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Cynthia Kim | TOKYO/SEOUL TOKYO/SEOUL Asian currency policymakers are worried that the strengthening of the dollar on expectations of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's fiscal policies could be used by his administration as a stick to beat them with on trade protectionist grounds.China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are already on the U.S. Treasury's monitoring list, along with

By Samuel Shen and John Ruwitch | SHANGHAI SHANGHAI Scores of Hong Kong-listed companies - many small - are on a roadshow blitz in China to whet the appetite of mainland investors ahead of the launch of a cross-border investment link between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.Mainland investors are enthusiastic, viewing the cross-border channel as a way to buy relatively cheap growth

By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Ford Motor Co (F.N), one of Donald Trump's prime corporate targets on the campaign trail, offered the President-elect a chance to claim a victory late on Thursday by informing him it would not shift production of a Lincoln sport utility vehicle to Mexico from Kentucky.Trump jumped at the chance, claiming in a tweet that he

By Mitra Taj and Caroline Stauffer | LIMA LIMA Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Saturday to further open the world's second-largest economy as leaders of Asia-Pacific countries gathered in Peru to find new free-trade options after Donald Trump was s elected U.S. president on a protectionist platform.The annual APEC summit got under way in Lima just over a week after

FRANKFURT Volkswagen does not expect the German government to make tax demands to cover revenue losses related to the carmaker's diesel scandal, a company spokesman said on Saturday. In Germany, motor vehicle taxes are tied to the volume of carbon dioxide emissions, among other things. VW, Europe's largest carmaker, has admitted using emissions-cheating software in a scandal that tarnished its image and left it facing billions of euros in fines and settlements. Last year, Volkswagen promised to make up for

By Dan Burns and Jennifer Ablan | NEW YORK NEW YORK With President-elect Donald Trump promising to spend as much as half a trillion dollars on infrastructure and slash taxes – initiatives that could add dramatically to the U.S. debt and balloon the budget deficit - Wall Street is far more focused on who will next head the U.S. Treasury than

By Rosalba O'Brien and Mitra Taj | LIMA LIMA Leaders of Pacific rim nations scrambled to find new free-trade options on Friday as a looming Donald Trump presidency in the United States sounded a possible death knell for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).After lower-level meetings, U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin were due to arrive

By Lewis Krauskopf | NEW YORK NEW YORK Arguing over politics is a Thanksgiving Day tradition, but Donald Trump's presidential election adds a new twist to any bickering at next week's holiday dinner table: What the new U.S. government could mean for your stock portfolio.Trump's shock victory last Tuesday sent investors scrambling to change bets predicated on a win by Hillary

By Patrick Rucker | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A leading U.S. bank regulator on Friday reversed course and positions the agency to claw back pay of former executives at Wells Fargo & Co after a phony-accounts scandal.The lender must also now seek prior approval before naming new bank leadership, said the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the main regulator for federal

Social media giant Facebook Inc (FB.O) on Friday set a $6 billion buyback program for its Class A shares, beginning in the first quarter of 2017.Facebook's shares were up 1.1 percent at $118.24 in after-hours trading. The company had a market value of about $337 billion at close.The company also said Chief Accounting Officer Jas Athwal had resigned, effective Feb. 17. (bit.ly/2fcxJoA) (bit.ly/2fE2wvw)

MILAN Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) (FCHA.MI) said it has teamed up with U.S. internet giant Amazon (AMZN.O) to start selling cars online offering an additional discount.Initially only Italian buyers will be able to purchase their cars with a simple click online and the offers on Amazon.it will be limited to three models - the 500, the Panda and the 500L.FCA said the choice was deliberate because the Panda is Italy's biggest selling car, while buyers of the 500 and its

U.S. stocks looked set to open little changed on Friday, with all three major indexes near record highs, a day after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen sent a strong signal that interest rates would be increased next month.The Fed could raise rates "relatively soon", Yellen said in a congressional testimony on Thursday, adding that she would serve out her term.Traders are pricing in an 83 percent chance of a December move, according to Thomson Reuters data.St. Louis Fed President James

HONG KONG Chinese telecoms equipment group ZTE Corp (000063.SZ) (0763.HK) said on Friday it has won a further reprieve to Feb. 27 on export restrictions that were imposed on the company by the U.S. government.In March, the U.S. Commerce Department hit ZTE with some of the toughest-ever U.S. export restrictions for allegedly breaking sanctions against Iran but has since issued temporary reprieves on the curbs.The latest reprieve comes after ZTE said this week it had appointed Matthew Bell as its

WOLFSBURG, Germany Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) unveiled plans to cut 23,000 jobs in Germany to help achieve 3.7 billion euros ($3.92 billion) in annual savings by 2020 to turn around its core brand and help fund a shift to electric and self-driving cars following its emissions scandal.The agreement foresees a 25 percent improvement in productivity at German plants, the company said at a news conference on Friday.The so-called future pact, hammered out between both sides since June, aims to increase the brand's

By David Shepardson | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Ford Motor Co Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr told him the automaker would not move a Kentucky plant to Mexico, but the firm said it informed him the decision was to keep one vehicle in U.S. production.On Thursday, Trump posted on Twitter: "I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep

By Andrea Hopkins | OTTAWA OTTAWA Canadian manufacturers want their access to the U.S. market protected at all costs if Canada renegotiates the NAFTA trade deal with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, even if that means losing the trilateral partnership with Mexico.Amid fears a Trump administration will tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters group is

By Alexandria Sage and Nichola Groom | LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES Tesla Motors Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk won approval on Thursday from the electric luxury automaker's shareholders for an acquisition of SolarCity Corp, the solar energy system installer in which he is the largest shareholder.The stock swap deal, worth about $2 billion, caps a tumultuous year for Musk and Tesla.

By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. consumer prices recorded their biggest increase in six months in October on rising gasoline costs and rents, suggesting a pickup in inflation that potentially clears the way for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in December.Prospects for a rate hike next month also got a boost from other data on Thursday showing first-time

LONDON Battered bonds and emerging market currencies enjoyed some respite on Thursday as the dollar took a breather from a post-U.S. election charge that has taken it to a 13-1/2 year high.Wall Street looked set for a quiet start and Europe's main stock markets <0#.INDEXE> were shuffling sideways as the dip in global bond yields cooled bank stocks, which have been rising on better lending profits. [.EU]The dollar's drop against other top world currencies was a modest 0.3 percent .DXY

BANGKOK Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl (CPF) (CPF.BK) said it will acquire U.S. frozen-food producer Bellisio Parent LLC for $1.075 billion, paving the way for an entry into the world's largest food market.The acquisition is in line with CPF's strategy to expand into high-potential markets, CEO Adirek Sripratak said in a statement.CPF, controlled by Thailand's richest man Dhanin Chearavanont, signed a purchase agreement on Thursday with seller Bellisio Consolidated Equity, the statement said.The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions and

By Masayuki Kitano and Lisa Twaronite | SINGAPORE/TOKYO SINGAPORE/TOKYO The dollar caught its breath on Thursday, after charging to a 13-1/2 year high against a basket of currencies on bets the Trump administration will adopt inflationary policies, while the yen sagged after a Bank of Japan bond-buying operation.The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major rival currencies, eased 0.1

SINGAPORE Crude oil futures dropped on Thursday after official inventory reports indicated a larger-than-expected build in U.S. oil stocks.Crude inventories in the United States rose by 5.3 million barrels in the week to Nov. 11, compared with expectations for an increase of 1.5 million barrels.The climb in inventories was mainly due to higher imports that averaged 910,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.U.S. benchmark WTI crude CLc1 was down 11

NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) shares dropped to a session low as volume jumped late in the trading session on Wednesday after Fox Business Network reporter Maria Bartiromo tweeted that the bank's chief executive Jamie Dimon might get the Treasury Secretary position and a "big meeting" was planned on Thursday. Bartiromo tweeted she was "hearing" Dimon will get the position under President-elect Donald Trump with a meeting scheduled for Thursday,

NEW YORK If newly elected U.S. officials were to reduce federal corporate taxes by 20 percent, Citigroup Inc (C.N) could have to take a $4 billion charge to profits to reflect lower values for its deferred tax assets, Citi's chief financial officer said on Wednesday.However a charge of that size and nature would not hurt the amount of capital that Citigroup reports to regulators

By Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal | LONDON/DOHA LONDON/DOHA OPEC officials are working to nail down details of their plan to limit oil supply and gaps over some sticking points are narrowing, OPEC sources said, a sign of progress in finalizing the exporter group's first such deal since 2008. OPEC agreed in Algeria on Sept. 28 to limit supply with

BERLIN The new chief executive of Hugo Boss (BOSSn.DE) said he expects to return the struggling German fashion house to growth in 2018, announcing plans to simplify its brand portfolio and adjust prices in a bid to appeal to younger customers.Mark Langer, the former finance chief who was appointed CEO in May, said the company will focus in future on two main brands - upper premium businesswear under the BOSS label, and a new positioning for its HUGO label for

TOKYO A pause in both the sell-off in global bonds and sharp rise in the dollar following Donald Trump's election victory, together with Wall Street's record high overnight helped Asian shares steady on Wednesday from a four-month low struck a day earlier.President-elect Trump's plans to cut taxes and boost infrastructure spending would boost demand while his proposals to deport illegal immigrants and impose tariffs on cheap imports, if implemented, are seen likely to drive inflation higher. That prospect

By Steve Holland and Emily Stephenson | WASHINGTON/NEW YORK WASHINGTON/NEW YORK President-elect Donald Trump closed in on naming two early Wall Street backers to key economic positions but jettisoned a national security expert from his transition team on Tuesday, a sign of the premium he places on loyalty as he confronts the task of building his administration.Trump, a Republican outsider who

Messaging app Snapchat has filed confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO), sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.The Venice, California-based company is in the process of planning one of the biggest technology IPOs in recent years, expected to come as early as March.

Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) is negotiating with Chad over a record $74 billion fine the U.S. oil company was told to pay by a court in the central African nation over unpaid royalties, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.Exxon has appealed the Oct. 5 court ruling, but the appeals court hearing has been delayed because of the talks, Bloomberg reported, citing a lawyer for Exxon. (bloom.bg/2fRpf5n)The court decision fined a consortium led by Exxon over 44 trillion CFA francs ($73.44 billion) -

PARIS U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will have little choice but to adopt a softer line on trade than the one he has flagged during his campaign, although flare-ups with some partners are likely, former WTO chief Pascal Lamy said.With financial markets wondering whether Britain will opt for a hard or soft Brexit, Lamy said that there was a similar scenario for trade under a Trump presidency."If I look at Trump and trade, the big question is whether soft Trump or