RBC settles lawsuit with Wisconsin school districts

RBC Capital Markets LLC agreed to pay $30 million to resolve U.S. regulators’ claims that it marketed and sold unsuitable securities to five Wisconsin school districts that wiped out $200 million. St. Louis-based Stifel Financial is also a defendant and has not settled.
RBC Capital, the investment-banking unit of Canada’s biggest lender, failed to explain the […]

Greece will get bailout loans, avoid default: Finance minister

ATHENS

Finance ministers differ on how to resolve debt crisis

WASHINGTON

US stocks mixed after brutal week of selling

U.S. stocks are rising modestly at midday, but doing little to wipe out heavy losses from a brutal week of selling.
Investors have been racked by growing fears that the economy is headed for another recession. Europe appears no closer to solving the debt crisis that threatens some of its biggest banks. U.S. political leaders are […]

Rate on 30-year mortgage stays at record 4.09 pct.

Fixed mortgage rates hovered at record lows for a third straight week and are likely to fall further in the coming weeks.
Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was unchanged at 4.09 percent this week. That’s the lowest rate seen since 1951.
The average rate on the 15-year mortgage ticked down to […]

AP: BP oil not degrading on Gulf floor, study says

Researchers say tar balls washed on to Gulf of Mexico beaches by Tropical Storm Lee prove that oil left over from last year’s BP spill isn’t breaking down as quickly as some assume.
Auburn University said Tuesday that its study shows the tar that hit Alabama beaches earlier this month appeared relatively fresh and unchanged from […]

Lennar 3Q profit falls, but meets Street’s view

Lennar Corp.’s fiscal third-quarter net income dropped 31 percent as the company delivered fewer homes.
But the homebuilder said Monday that demand is picking up somewhat, driven by low home prices and low interest rates.
The company earned $20.7 million, or 11 cents a share, for the three months ended Aug. 31. That compares with net income […]

UBS trading losses fuel push for split banking

Would you trust UBS with your money now?
As regulators join the Swiss bank in scrambling to figure out how a single suspect could have racked up as much as $2 billion worth of rotten bets over three years, analysts and politicians say the catastrophic losses reinforce the case for divorcing retail banks from their investment […]

Trader in UBS case charged

London police say the UBS trader accused of losing the Swiss banking giant $2 billion in rogue trading has been charged with fraud and false accounting.
The City of London police department said in a statement that 31-year-old Kweku Adoboli has been charged on Friday with two offenses.
Police said that Adoboli would appear at City of […]

French minister insists banks are solid

France’s finance minister says that French banks are solid and do not need to be recapitalized despite being heavily exposed to Greece’s debts.
Francois Baroin said on France-Info radio Thursday that leading French banks brought in billions in profits this year and “are companies that do no need recapitalization.”
He says the banks aren’t having difficulty with […]