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JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said President Barack Obama's decision to expand investigations into home lending and sales of mortgage securities could stop settlement talks with the states over foreclosure practices.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sought to calm fears that the Obama administration's bank reforms were hostile to the U.S. financial industry, saying on Wednesday the reforms were "tough where they need to be tough."

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been a leading critic of a deal with the nation's largest mortgage servicers over improper foreclosure practices.

Merrill Lynch agreed to pay a $1 million fine for failing to arbitrate disputes with employees about retention bonuses related to its 2009 merger with Bank of America Corp , the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said on Wednesday.

Citigroup Inc., the third-biggest U.S. bank, said it may consider further spending cuts in its securities and banking unit in 2012 after an investment of almost $1 billion failed to yield meaningful revenue.

Roche Holding AG is offering $5.7 billion in cash to buy U.S. gene sequencing company Illumina Inc in an unfriendly takeover bid that marks a major play by the Swiss drugmaker into the gene technology field.

A group of consumer advocates, academics and economists want to end too-big-to-fail banks, starting with Bank of America Corp.

The chief economist at Swiss banking giant UBS said Tuesday afternoon that Greece would likely default on its sovereign debt obligation, putting underwriters of insurance against such an event on the hook for billions of dollars in payments. He was only the latest market observer to say a default was imminent.

Russian gold miner Polyus Gold, co-owned by Russian presidential hopeful Mikhail Prokhorov, could sell shares worth $1 billion as part of its planned premium stock-market listing in London, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

As state and federal officials near a deal with top banks to settle claims of foreclosure abuses, left-leaning activist groups have stepped up pressure on the officials to reach a deal that demands more from the banks.

The estate of Lehman Brothers paid $1.33 billion to become majority owner of Archstone, a multifamily landlord of more than 70,000 U.S. apartments, successfully blocking a rival bidder.

The volatility, panic, and the resulting tightening of investors' purses that dominated credit markets for much of 2011 is giving way to calm, creating a flood of cash from investors now confident enough to put their money back into corporate bonds. Somewhat surprisingly, crisis-exposed financial institutions, even in Europe, have been able to take advantage.

With the searing success of Apple's iPhone line helping to spur sales of nearly 580 million smartphones in 2011, consumers are lining up to buy them. Meanwhile, the mobile industry is dying to serve them, lured by prospects of subscriber growth and terabytes of new revenue.

Asia's economic growth may be settling into a middling pace that is too slow to provide significant global support but too fast to warrant aggressive policy easing.

Stock index futures dipped on Friday, indicating the S&P 500 may snap a three-day win streak after Google results fell short of expectations and as investors eyed Greek debt talks for signs of progress.

Japan's Nikkei share average hit a two-month high on Friday, boosted by encouraging results from U.S. banks Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N), while near-term concerns over Europe eased after successful Spanish debt auctions.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) may give shares worth $1 billion to employees instead of cash as part of bonuses and hold back on dividend increases and buybacks, as the second-largest U.S. bank grasps for ways to boost its capital levels.

Stocks rose for the third straight day on Thursday, sparked by results from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley and as the latest jobless claims dropped to a near four-year low.

Canada's main stock index touched a 10-week high on Thursday as the financial and energy-linked sectors climbed on easing concerns about the European debt crisis and encouraging U.S. bank earnings.

American Express Company (NYSE: AXP), the biggest credit-card issuer by purchases, is expected to beat Wall Street's consensus profit estimates, with earnings gains driven by stronger consumer spending and a diversified business model. This is sharp change from prior quarters when the company grew profits by dipping deeper into the company's reserve funds that were set aside to cushion against future losses.

Bank of America reported a fourth-quarter profit of $1.58 billion, or 15 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of 16 cents a share.

Bank of America Corp reported a fourth-quarter profit, reversing a year-earlier loss, boosted by one-time items and lower expenses for bad loans.

The companies expected to see active trade on Thursday are: Microsoft, International Business Machines, Google, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Intel Corp, eBay, American Express, Intutive Surgical, Southwest Airlines, UnitedHealth Group and Xilinx.

Japan's Nikkei average hit a five-week closing high on Thursday, soaring past its 75-day moving average as the euro climbed on news that the International Monetary Fund is seeking to bolster its funds to stem the euro zone sovereign debt crisis.

Stocks jumped to their highest since July on Wednesday as the International Monetary Fund sought to help countries hit by the European debt crisis, while forecast-beating earnings from Goldman Sachs dispelled some worries over bank profits.

Stocks jumped to their highest since July on Wednesday as the International Monetary Fund sought to help countries hit by the European debt crisis, while forecast-beating earnings from Goldman Sachs dispelled some worries over bank profits.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets, is expected to post a modest profit gain in the fourth quarter as cost-cutting offsets declining revenue from trading, retail and mortgage divisions.

When the Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) reports its quarterly earnings Wednesday morning, the results will be a reflection of an institution at a crossroads. BNY, an industry player widely known for its dominance in the sleepy turf of trust banking, is trying to muscle its way into the more aggressive corners of Wall Street trading. Earnings could show what it's like when a bank occupies the worst of both those worlds of finance.

As Wall Street waits for Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) -- the fifth-largest U.S. bank by assets and one of the most powerful banking institutions in the world -- to report fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday, the question most analysts seem to have is not whether the earnings release will be underwhelming, but just how bad the hit will be.