The US stock market regulator is investigating troubled insurance broker Marsh & McLennan’s shareholder transactions, the firm has said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked for information about transactions involving holders of 5% or more of the firm’s shares.
Marsh has said it is co-operating fully with the SEC investigation
France Telecom has been sued for $5.74bn (4.26bn euros; £2
The two most senior executives at US mortgage giant Fannie Mae have resigned after accounting irregularities were uncovered at the company.
Chief executive Franklin Raines, a former senior official in the Clinton administration, and chief financial officer Tim Howard have left the firm.
Fannie Mae was criticised by financial regulators and could have to restate its earnings by up to $9bn (£4
UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, said yesterday it faces legal action from watchdogs for its involvement in one of America’s most extraordinary financial scandals.
The bank has received a so-called Wells Notice from the Securities & Exchange Commission in connection with work it did for HealthSouth, which has admitted to inflating profits by $2.5 billion
Bradford and Bingley was today fined £650,000 (1 million USD) by the finance industry watchdog for mis-selling precipice and with-profit bonds.
Around 6,800 affected customers will now receive compensation totalling £6 million, the Financial Services Authority said.
The FSA issued the fine for the widespread mis-selling of the bonds criticising the firm for not making suitable recommendations to customers, not maintaining adequate records of sales and not having in place adequate systems and controls to prevent and ultimately address these failures
Insurer Axa Sun Life has been fined £500,000 for its misleading TV adverts – the highest such fine ever imposed by the City watchdog.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said adverts for Axa Cash Builder Plus and its guaranteed over-50 investment plans did not alert consumers to risk.
The FSA said the “design, content and format” of the adverts focused attention on benefits rather than risk
Australian building products group James Hardie has agreed to pay $1.1bn (£568m) to victims of asbestos-related diseases.
The landmark deal could see thousands of people suffering from lung diseases – caused by asbestos the company once made – receive compensation
US mortgage company Fannie Mae should restate its earnings, the US finance watchdog has said, a move that could put a major dent in its finances
The Securities & Exchange Commission accused Fannie Mae of using techniques that “did not comply in material respects” with accounting standards. Last month Fannie Mae warned that the problems could cost it $9bn (£4.6bn)
Media giant Time Warner is to pay $210m (£108m) to settle charges of securities fraud involving America Online (AOL).
The US Department of Justice has been investigating allegations that AOL conspired with several smaller internet firms to inflate their earnings.
Criminal charges will be deferred for two years, provided the US firm agrees to cooperate with investigators
Vivendi Universal and its former chief executive Jean-Marie Messier have each been fined 1m euros ($1.3m; £690,000) by French regulators.
The fines come after a 15-month probe into allegations the media giant misled investors after a costly acquisition program went wrong