Company

KPMG admits to past tax misdeeds

US federal prosecutors have built a criminal case against KPMG and are debating whether to file charges, the Wall Street Journal reported.

KPMG, one of the “big four” global accounting firms, said on Thursday it was in talks with the US Justice Department and co-operating fully.

It said it took “full responsibility for the unlawful conduct by former KPMG partners” and deeply regretted it

Bristol-Myers in $300m settlement

US drugs company Bristol-Myers Squibb has agreed to pay $300m (£165m) into a shareholders’ fund, as prosecutors charged two former executives.

The firm and executives were accused of a practice called “channel stuffing” – offering incentives to get wholesalers to buy more of the company’s products.

The scheme boosted earnings at the firm, which has now agreed a “deferred prosecution” with Newark lawmakers

Microsoft helps China to censor bloggers

Civil liberties groups have condemned an arrangement between Microsoft and Chinese authorities to censor the internet.

The American company is helping censors remove “freedom” and “democracy” from the net in China with a software package that prevents bloggers from using these and other politically sensitive words on their websites.

The restrictions, which also include an automated denial of “human rights”, are built into MSN Spaces, a blog service launched in China last month by Shanghai MSN Network Communications Technology, a venture in which Microsoft holds a 50% stake

Citigroup pays $2bn in Enron case

US banking giant Citigroup has agreed to pay $2bn (£1.1bn) to settle a lawsuit brought by shareholders of collapsed energy trading firm Enron.

The class-action suit accused Citigroup of assisting Enron to carry out the huge accounting fraud which bankrupted it in 2001

Forgery charge for jet fuel boss

Chen Jiulin, the suspended boss of crisis-hit jet fuel supplier China Aviation Oil (CAO), has been charged with insider trading.

The charges, which include making false statements, failing to disclose losses and forgery, come a day after Mr Chen and other executives were arrested.

CAO collapsed in December after running up losses of $550m (£248m) betting on the future price of oil

Abbey landed with $1.4 m fine

Mortgage lender Abbey has been fined £800,000 ($1.47m) by the City watchdog for mishandling complaints from its customers over endowment policies.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) also said Abbey gave the regulator inaccurate information while failing to treat its customers fairly

Exxon facing overcharge payouts

Oil giant Exxon Mobil has been ordered to pay damages to more than 10,000 petrol station owners for overcharging on the cost of its fuel.

The ruling by a federal court judge in Miami could set the US company back more than $1.3bn

Morgan Stanley faces $850m payout

Morgan Stanley will have to pay $850m (£462m) in damages to Revlon boss Ron Perelman after being found guilty of conspiring to defraud the financier.

A Florida court concluded that the US investment bank had acted improperly in relation to a 1998 deal in which Mr Perelman sold Coleman Inc. for $1

Former Enron executive sentenced

A former Enron finance executive has been sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison for his role in a bogus deal to boost earnings.

Dan Boyle was sentenced alongside former Merrill Lynch bankers Robert Furst and William Fuhs, who will both serve three years and one month.

Enron fraudulently recorded the 1999 contract as a $12m (£6m) profit