Sponsored by Bank of america

Blackstone Group will manage a $2-billion-plus Asian real estate fund of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, in a deal that will close in the third quarter, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Bank of America Corp is beefing up its internal accounting controls after it incorrectly classified as much as $10.7 billion in short-term lending and repurchase deals for mortgage securities as sales, according to a letter filed on Friday with U.S. securities regulators.

The global private banking sector has the potential to nearly double its size thanks to about $10 trillion of untapped wealth that is still up for grabs, according to the Scorpio Partnership's annual benchmark.

Banks lifted Britain's top shares on Thursday, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group top performers on reports that a new bid vehicle will seek to buy British banking assets. The FTSE 100 .FTSE index was up 90.63 points, or 1.8 percent, at 5,105.45, rising for a third consecutive day. It closed up 49.82 points, or 1 percent, on Wednesday.

The global private banking sector has the potential to grow by 60 percent if it can get hold of about $10 trillion in untapped wealth, held back by depressed returns and lack of investor trust, Scorpio Partnership said.

Stocks rebounded on Tuesday from a 10-month low on the S&P 500 on data that showed the services sector, the economy's largest, grew for a sixth straight month in June.

Stocks rose broadly on Tuesday, following five days of losses, as data showed the economy's services sector grew for a sixth straight month in June and on signs of strength in Europe's banking system.

A Bank of America Corp board member wanted an outsider to take over as chief executive in December but eventually gave in to backing Brian Moynihan for the post, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Big brokerages are working to boost banking and lending services to their clients, eager for new revenue to offset the squeeze from volatile markets and nervous clients clinging to low-margin bond and cash funds.

Bank of America has leap-frogged U.S. rival JPMorgan to rank as the world's top bank in terms of capital strength while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tops the profit league, according to a new study.

The U.S. Treasury Department lacks the manpower to properly monitor how big companies that got billions of taxpayers' money use it, a critical report on Tuesday from an oversight agency said.

Global merger and acquisition activity in 2010 is off to its worst start in six years, and with economic uncertainty and a sovereign debt crisis in Europe, the second half could be just as disappointing.

Stock index futures rose on Friday as investors digested a historic agreement by U.S. lawmakers to overhaul financial regulations and awaited final readings on gross domestic product and consumer sentiment.

Lawmakers on Thursday agreed to boost banks' capital requirements and neared agreement on a derivatives crackdown as they closed in on a historic overhaul of financial regulations.

Relational Investors LLC, which owns 4 percent of Charles River Laboratories International , has warned the company that its directors will likely be booted off the board by angry shareholders if it proceeds with its plan to acquire Chinese contract research organization WuXi PharmaTech for $1.6 billion.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch expects to launch a new online brokerage service on Monday to attract less affluent investors who trade through discount firms like Charles Schwab or E*Trade, a bank spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Investors have become less bullish about the global economy but have not given up on riskier assets, finding equities as cheap as they have been since March 2009, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch poll showed on Tuesday.

Wells Fargo Advisors recently vaulted past Wall Street rivals to become one of the largest U.S. brokerages. Just don't tell its chief executive.

Stock index futures rose on Wednesday as Wall Street looked to build on gains in the previous session after unofficial data showed Chinese exports blew past expectations, easing concerns about a global recovery.

Countrywide Financial Corp, the mortgage lender that became synonymous with risky lending practices, has agreed to pay $108 million to settle government charges that two Countrywide mortgage servicing companies misled and overcharged consumers.

Agricultural Bank of China , preparing for the world's largest-ever IPO, unveiled key financial figures on Friday, detailing plans to issue up to 47.6 billion new shares and forecasting a sharp rise in yearly net profit.

Investors will scour a preliminary prospectus for Agricultural Bank of China's around $30 billion IPO, the world's largest, for updates on its book value and bad loans.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan are the lead candidates for senior manager underwriting roles on the General Motors initial public offering, according to Fox Business Network's Charlie Gasparino.

Agricultural Bank of China may struggle to get the kind of valuation it wants as it gears up to launch the world's biggest IPO into a market that has slumped by a fifth in just six weeks.

Stocks rose on Wednesday as investors bought shares of beaten-down companies following recent losses, and after new home sales rose last month to their highest in almost two years.

The Senate named 12 senators, including tough Wall Street critics and more moderate members, Tuesday to a panel that will finalize the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulations since the 1930s.

Stocks rose on Friday, with bank shares leading a rebound as worries ebbed over the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and an overhaul of U.S. financial regulation.

Stocks rose on Friday, with bank shares leading a rebound as worries ebbed over the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and an overhaul of U.S. financial regulation.