IBT Staff Reporter

J.P. Morgan Securities forecast global wholesale and investment banks to incur additional pretax writedowns of $17 billion for the rest of 2009 to reach mark-to-market valuations of structured credit assets.

The chief Khmer Rouge torturer formally apologized Tuesday for the deaths of more than 14,000 people at S-21 prison, the first Pol Pot cadre to accept blame for crimes committed by the regime 30 years ago.

Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is close to raising $6 billion for a new global property fund, falling short of its earlier target of $10 billion, sources with direct knowledge of the plan said on Tuesday.

A U.S. regulator has ordered Merrill Lynch & Co to pay close to $40 million after its Advest unit advised an endowment to buy a stake in a fund affiliated with the collapsed commodities broker Refco Inc.

Years of inaction dramatically raised the economic costs of the U.S. financial crisis, highlighting the need for a new approach, a top Federal Reserve policy-maker said on Tuesday.

U.S. mutual fund giant Vanguard is introducing a clutch of low-cost investment products in a move that could shake up the UK retail fund market and pension provision, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

The United States offered Taliban fighters who renounce violence in Afghanistan an honorable form of reconciliation on Tuesday as part of a revamped strategy to tackle a deepening insurgency.

Fiat's (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) chief executive has flown to Chrysler LLC's CBS.UL home town of Detroit to meet trade unions and creditors after U.S. authorities gave the carmakers 30 days to set up a partnership to save Chrysler.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner heads for a summit of world leaders this week having strengthened his president's hand by rolling out key pieces of a U.S. financial rescue plan.

U.S. consumer confidence rose slightly in March but remained near record lows as the economy remained weak and job prospects grew increasingly uncertain.

President Barack Obama headed to Europe on Tuesday with a hefty agenda for tackling the economic crisis and seeking support for his new Afghanistan strategy on a trip that will test his global leadership.

The Sun-Times Media Group, parent of the Chicago Sun-Times, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, earning Chicago the distinction of being the first U.S. city served by two bankrupt newspaper publishers.

Ford Motor Co introduced an incentive covering payments for up to a year if customers lose their jobs, joining rivals in offering heavy discounts to attract consumers sidelined by a deepening recession.

Fiat's chief executive has flown to Chrysler LLC's home town of Detroit to meet trade unions and creditors after U.S. authorities gave the carmakers 30 days to set up a partnership to save Chrysler.

The world economy will shrink at a far faster pace than originally expected this year, sending unemployment soaring and highlighting the need for extra steps to halt the crisis, the OECD said on Tuesday.

Prices of U.S. single-family homes in January plunged a record 19.0 percent from a year earlier, indicative of a U.S. housing market that is still in the throes of a deep recession, according to a Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller report on Tuesday.

Barclays is in exclusive talks to sell its iShares asset management unit to CVC Partners for about 3 billion pounds ($4.3 billion), a person familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

China on Tuesday rejected a report suggesting it may be involved in using computer networks to spy on exiled Tibetans and foreign governments, accusing its authors of being possessed by the ghost of the Cold War.

Microsoft Corp has signed up multiple software partners for its upcoming cellphone software marketplace, including Web music service Pandora, game publisher Electronic Arts Inc and social site Facebook.

Fortis NV (FOR.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it has a viable future as an insurance group on Tuesday after plunging to a 28 billion euro ($37 billion) net loss in 2008 on the state takeover of its troubled banking activities.

The United States is heading for only a tepid recovery next year, and the central bank may need to buy even more assets to combat the growing threat of deflation, the OECD said on Tuesday.

The dollar will remain the world's dominant reserve currency and a strong U.S. currency is critical to pull the world out of crisis, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Tuesday.

The World Bank announced a $50 billion program on Tuesday to counter a decline in global trade and Britain called on G20 leaders to supply the oxygen of confidence to save the world economy from recession.

Google Inc is forming a $100 million fund to invest in early-stage start-up firms. The fund will operate as a separate entity and will seek investment opportunities to maximize returns rather than looking for investments that strictly fit with Google's strategic vision.

The U.S. recession may be easing, but the economy has not hit bottom yet and mounting unemployment looks likely to keep demand sluggish for a while. While the economy still appears on a downward path, the slope is not as steep as many had feared.

Some frustrated U.S. taxpayers cheered President Barack Obama's tough steps to shore up the reeling auto industry on Monday but critics called his decision to fire General Motors' chief a heavy-handed power grab.

The European Central Bank is expected to cut its main interest rate to a new record low of 1 percent on Thursday and step up efforts to boost the flow of funds from banks to euro-zone companies and households.

Switzerland's UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, had written down more than $49 billion since mid-2007, and it expects more write downs and job cuts in the first quarter.

The Walt Disney Co. and Google Inc.'s YouTube are close to a deal that would allow Disney content to be distributed through YouTube, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.