UBS to disclose U.S. customers' records Banking giant UBS has agreed to pay $780 million and turn over once-secret Swiss banking records to settle allegations it conspired to defraud the U.S. government of taxes owed by thousands of American clients. As part of the deal struck in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., UBS has made the unprecedented step of agreeing to immediately turn over to the U.S. government account information for U.S. customers of the bank's cross-border business. In doing so, federal authorities have struck a big crack in Switzerland's vaunted bank secrecy laws. U.S. officials said about 17,000 American clients concealed their UBS accounts from the IRS, hiding total assets of roughly $20 billion.
BearingPoint files for Chapter 11 Technology consultant BearingPoint Inc. filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, saying it had negotiated a "prearranged" bankruptcy plan with lenders that could help reduce its debt load. The company filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, with $2.23 billion in debt and $1.76 billion in assets as of Sept. 30. The filing only includes the company's U.S. operations. The company has faced heavy debt in part because of the purchase of numerous consulting companies between 1999 and 2002. It was also the subject of a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2005 regarding accounting issues.
GE's Immelt declines 2008 bonus, awards General Electric Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt declined a 2008 bonus and millions of dollars in performance awards, saying Wednesday that the company's falling profits and plummeting share price prompted him to forgo the payments. The Fairfield, Conn.-based conglomerate, which makes everything from locomotives to household appliances, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Immelt will not receive his $11.7 million long-term performance award. Immelt received no bonus and his base salary of $3.3 million was flat with his 2007 paycheck. In 2007, GE paid Immelt a $5.8 million bonus.
Wal-Mart cuts prepaid Visa debit-card fees Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, cut the activation fee on its prepaid Visa debit card to $3 from $8.94 to draw U.S. consumers who don't have bank accounts. The company also lowered the card's monthly fee to $3 from $4.94 while charging consumers $3 instead of $4.64 to reload, Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart said in a statement. The retailer is aiming for the 35 million U.S. households who have no bank accounts or keep so little money in accounts they're penalized with low-balance and other fees, Jane Thompson, president of Wal-Mart's financial-services division, said Tuesday.
Ricketts family lowering stake in Ameritrade The family of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts will sell 34 million shares in the online brokerage back to the company in a deal valued at almost $403 million to help finance the family's bid to buy the Chicago Cubs. Omaha-based Ameritrade announced the stock purchase agreement Wednesday morning before its annual shareholders meeting. Ameritrade agreed to pay the Ricketts family $11.85 per share. After the transaction, the Ricketts' family stake in the company will shrink from about 22 percent of Ameritrade's stock to about 17.7 percent.
MBIA to separate munis from other business MBIA Inc. said Wednesday it will separate its municipal bond insurance business from the riskier operations that sent the company's finances into turmoil. MBIA, which came under pressure in 2008 because it had insured mortgage-backed securities that later soured, is hoping the split will help generate new confidence in its municipal insurance business and increase liquidity for that struggling market.
India to allow duty-free raw sugar imports India, the world's biggest consumer of sugar, may import as much as 1.2 million metric tons from suppliers in Brazil and Guatemala to overcome a shortfall in output and cool rising domestic prices. India's government Tuesday posted rules allowing duty-free imports of raw sugar until Sept. 30 for processing and sale domestically. Buyers must export a similar quantity of white sugar within two years, according to the trade ministry. Purchases by the South Asian nation may help support a rally that's made sugar the best-performing agricultural commodity this year. Prices of raw sugar have gained 12 percent since January in New York.
