INVESTMENT

UBS AG has formally warned wealthy American clients that secret Swiss accounts may be revealed to U.S. tax authorities after the Wednesday expiration of an amnesty program that could give them immunity from prosecution.

The U.S. Federal Reserve plans new rules on bank pay to curb excessive risk-taking, which is blamed for sparking the global financial crisis and has triggered international demands for action.

U.S. clients of UBS AG have been warned by the bank that their undeclared income in Switzerland may be revealed to U.S. tax authorities, according to a letter obtained by Reuters on Friday.

U.S. authorities are conducting a criminal probe into Bank of America Corp's purchase of Merrill Lynch, the Charlotte Observer reported on Friday.

American clients of UBS AG were formally warned by the bank that their undeclared income in Switzerland may be revealed to U.S. tax authorities, according to a letter obtained by Reuters on Friday.

The stars have aligned for gold prices, leaving them just a short hop from record highs, but as bullion bugs celebrate, the rally appears to have flaws.

Fed Takes Role on Pay; Citi Draws a Line; Airbus Sees Tough Years

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Friday as investors sought to determine whether a pullback is on the horizon after a 6-month rally and braced for options expiration.

The Swiss government said it would appoint up to five temporary judges to deal with complaints arising from an agreement to hand over data on some UBS client accounts to U.S. authorities.

Former Morgan Stanley managing director Du Jun was sentenced to a maximum seven years in jail on Friday after a district court found him guilty of insider trading in the city's highest-profile case of its kind.

Citadel Broadcasting Corp offered a deal to exchange a major part of its debt for equity to senior lenders owed $2 billion, including JPMorgan Chase & Co , GE Capital and ING Groep NV , the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the negotiations.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.2 percent at 3:37 a.m. EDT.

BNP Paribas, France's largest bank, is close to selling its stake in ABN AMRO TEDA Fund Management Co in China, in a step toward complying with Chinese mutual fund regulations.

The shareholders of Amadeus have hired investment bank Rothschild to study a possible stock offering of the travel reservations giant, a source with knowledge of the deal said on Thursday.

Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein said on Thursday that he sees potential for more IPOs from Carlyle's portfolio companies and said leverage for new deals is returning.

Asian stocks retreated from 13-month highs on Friday and commodity prices dipped after data giving a conflicting picture about the strength of the U.S. recovery stopped investors from extending this week's rally.

Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday that $100 million is too much for an employee to earn given the bank's circumstances.

The man who has the power to set pay on Wall Street is hitting the road for a series of speeches before he has even publicly testified before Congress.

U.S. securities regulators proposed on Thursday a ban on flash orders that stock exchanges send to a select group of traders, fractions of a second before revealing them publicly.

The U.S. federal government will keep about $1.2 billion in payments collected to backstop money market funds even after its insurance program ends on Friday, a U.S. Treasury official said.

Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zenstrom filed a copyright infringement suit against current owner eBay and the members of an investment group who recently agreed to acquire a majority stake in Skype.