IBT Staff Reporter

A plan by Spain to grant interest rate subsidies for green cars has won approval from the European Commission, the European Union executive said on Monday.

PepsiCo Inc is testing greener vending machines, a move that helps the soft drink maker reduce its environmental footprint and gives businesses a little relief on their electric bills.

The regulator of U.S. government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is looking at ways the two firms might help finance small mortgage banks hobbled by a dearth of credit, the Wall Street Journal reported.

General Motors Corp Chief Executive Rick Wagoner will resign from the company, a government official and another person briefed on the matter said on Sunday, a day before the government is expected to announce if it will extend more aid to GM.

The Obama administration seized the wheel of the failing U.S. auto industry on Monday, forcing out General Motors Corp's CEO, pushing Chrysler LLC toward a merger and threatening bankruptcy for both.

The global economic crisis will hit jobs hard, with unemployment set to reach double digits in many developing and advanced countries, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Sunday.

Shares in UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(UBS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) were down 7 percent in early trading on Monday amid expectations the bank could announce more writedowns and job cuts as early as this week.

American International Group (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has cut or delayed payments to some of its real-estate ventures, potentially leaving the developers and their bankers in the lurch, the Wall Street Journal reported.

President Barack Obama said on Sunday he told the chiefs of the biggest U.S. banks that bonuses are not acceptable while many Americans struggle to meet basic expenses in the midst of a severe recession.

Skype, the Internet telephone unit of eBay Inc, is planning to launch its service for iPhone users on Tuesday and for BlackBerry in May as part of its effort to expand beyond desktop computers.

General Motors Corp, whose chief executive was forced out by the Obama administration on Sunday, and Chrysler LLC will each be given capital and time to accelerate their attempts to restructure and survive, according to a government aid plan set for release on Monday.

BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, has gained support from top investors to get back on the acquisition trail following last year's failed bid for rival Rio Tinto, a newspaper report said on Sunday.

Switzerland's UBS is expected to announce more writedowns and job cuts in the coming days, Swiss newspaper Sonntag reported on Sunday.

The global economic crisis will hit jobs hard, with unemployment set to reach double digits in many developing and advanced countries, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Sunday.

UBS is expected to announce that it will write down at least $2 billion in illiquid assets and cut another 8,000 jobs in the next few days, Swiss newspaper Sonntag reported Sunday, according to Reuters.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner -- noting on Sunday that the Treasury had $135 billion in uncommitted bank bailout funds -- said on Sunday that if the agency needed additional money, he would make a strong case to Congress about it.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp plans to hire former AOL Chief Executive Jonathan Miller to supervise the media conglomerate's digital strategy, two News Corp media outlets reported and a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed.

Center-left world leaders including Britain's Gordon Brown and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday called for global financial reforms at next week's G20 summit, but the U.S. warned against over-regulation.

Thousands of people marched in Britain, France, Germany and Italy on Saturday to protest about the economic crisis and urge world leaders to act on poverty, jobs and climate change at a G20 summit next week.

Bankrupt U.S. companies lucky enough to survive a court restructuring are hitting another roadblock created by the economic downturn -- finding the money they need to put it all behind them.

An economic indicator which accounts for two thirds of all U.S. domestic economic activity has staged a rebound in the first two months of the year after a precipitous drop in the previous two quarters.

The President’s meeting with the top U.S. bankers on Friday was a non-confrontational gathering, which nevertheless saw the nation’s chief executive tell the industry leaders that it was necessary to show restraint while continuing to help the nation by continuing to lend, according to several reports.

The market making business unit of Bernard Madoff’s securities firm has been sold to a Boston-based brokerdealer which will pay $500,000 at closing and payments of up to $15 million in revenues from trades through 2012.

The Walt Disney Co and Hulu.com have restarted talks over offering shows from Disney's ABC television network on the online video distributor owned by NBC Universal and News Corp, paidContent.org reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein's compensation fell 98.4 percent in 2008, as banks faced huge writedowns and losses due to investments in toxic assets.

The market-making arm of jailed swindler Bernard Madoff's firm is set to be sold to Castor Pollux, a Boston financial company, for $500,000 plus future payments of up to $15 million, according to a statement by a court-appointed trustee.

The U.S. banking system showed some signs of thawing this week, but it may prove to be a false spring.

Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, said on Friday it would restructure its relationships with hedge fund managers to better control its assets and urged them to base their fees on long-term instead of short-term performance.

An independent investigating arm of the Treasury Department found a handful of cases in which a bank regulator ignored questionable backdating of capital injections, an official said on Friday.