INVESTMENT

The father of the money market mutual fund -- investor Bruce Bent -- was charged with fraud by U.S. regulators on Tuesday over accusations he deceived investors into believing his flagship fund was safe before it broke the buck last year.

The father of the money market mutual fund -- investor Bruce Bent -- was charged with fraud by U.S. regulators on Tuesday over accusations he deceived investors into believing his flagship fund was safe before it broke the buck last year.

The father of money market funds, Reserve Primary Fund founder Bruce Bent Sr., was among those charged with fraud on Tuesday by securities regulators for allegedly failing to tell investors about the fund's vulnerability to Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified at the Joint Economic Committee on Tuesday that he never asked Kenneth Lewis, chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp., to remain silent about the Merrill Lynch & Co. losses, before its January 1 acquisition.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as cautious investors fretted about impending bank stress test results and energy shares succumbed to the pressure of lower oil prices.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as cautious investors fretted about impending bank stress test results and energy shares succumbed to the pressure of lower oil prices.

Financial professionals, academic experts and the U.S. broker-dealer watchdog agree the Securities and Exchange Commission should not reinstate its old uptick rule to regulate short selling but disagreed on what other measures would be effective.

Top chief executives still expect the U.S. economy to remain mired in recession through 2009 but their confidence in the likelihood of a recovery next year is on the rebound thanks to growing optimism about their own businesses.

Legg Mason Inc's quarterly loss widened as it pared toxic assets from its books and cut its quarterly dividend 88 percent to 3 cents per share, sending the money manager's shares down 14 percent.

Legg Mason Inc's quarterly loss widened as it pared toxic assets from its books and cut its quarterly dividend 88 percent to 3 cents per share, sending the money manager's shares down 18 percent.

Legg Mason Inc's quarterly loss widened 27 percent as the money manager booked losses from paring toxic assets from its books, and the company cut its quarterly dividend to 3 cents per share from 24 cents a share.

While stocks rose in March, the market for complex instruments is still shut down, UBS said on Tuesday. The Swiss bank, which today reported a first quarter loss of 1.975 billion Swiss Francs ($2.34 billion) today, said it remained “cautious on the immediate outlook for UBS” as the markets continue to be unsettled.

About 10 of the 19 largest U.S. banks being stress tested will be instructed by regulators to raise more capital, according to a source familiar with official talks.

UBS remained wary on its immediate outlook as it braced for the recession's full impact after a first quarter loss, but its shares rose as resilient capital ratios cut the need for a balance sheet boost.

UBS remained wary on its immediate outlook as it braced for the full impact of the recession after confirming it had posted a first quarter loss on yet more writedowns and client withdrawals.

Switzerland's largest bank, UBS , confirmed a first-quarter net loss of 2 billion Swiss francs ($1.76 billion) on Tuesday on the back of yet more writedowns, as client withdrawals continued, and said it remained cautious.

U.S. regulators have deemed that about 10 of the 19 U.S. banks being stress tested will need to raise more capital, according to a source familiar with official talks.

Citigroup may put more employees on commission or offer them larger base salaries as it tries to retain key staffers without running afoul of laws limiting executive pay at banks that receive government funds.

Bank of America Corp , denying a media report, said it had no plans to raise $10 billion in common equity, while another report said Citigroup Inc was looking to raise capital from private investors.

Billionaire Warren Buffett on Sunday criticized some life insurers for taking on crazy financial risks by selling variable annuities, or retirement products that promised unrealistic guarantees to buyers.

Corrects to remove reference to Genworth Financial being badly burned by variable annuities, as this business is a relatively small part of its overall operations