INVESTMENT

Citigroup said on Tuesday it would merge its retail securities business in Japan with unit Nikko Cordial Corp, as part of the U.S. financial firm's push in the world's second-largest economy.

Institutional investors may be tilting away from risky assets just as equity markets across the world are hitting record highs.

Stock futures were little changed on Tuesday with market attention on aluminum company Alcoa, which kicks off the quarterly earnings season.

JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has given investors plenty to worry about throughout the year, but they have shrugged off his cautionary remarks and embraced his couched reassurances. It might be time to reconsider Dimon's cautionary side after Merrill Lynch & Co Inc unveiled a $5.5 billion credit implosion last week.

Morgan Stanley is unleashing a major drive to tap India's domestic wealth next year, hiring 100 private bankers in a bid to manage $1 billion in assets by the end of 2010.

BNP Paribas, France's biggest bank, is building up its onshore private banking presence in China, India and Taiwan and expects total assets under management in Asia to grow by 20 percent a year in the next few years, the head of its Asia private banking operation said.

Stock futures were little changed on Monday as investors paused after major indexes hit record highs on Friday and before the start of the quarterly earnings reporting season.

Beyond the ongoing 'short-term' subprime crisis, the 'mega trends' that will shape banking and its growth in the long term will be globalization, the growth of capital markets and global asset growth and its impact on how it's managed, said Deutsche Bank's top corporate and investment banker.

Jim O'Shaughnessy, author of the 2005 business bestseller What works on Wall Street and star money manager at Bear Stearns (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), is leaving the investment bank to set up his own asset-management shop -- but he won't leave empty handed.

Washington Mutual Inc, one of the largest U.S. mortgage lenders, said on Friday it expects a 75 percent drop in quarterly income on losses and write-downs on mortgage loans and securities.

Britain's Barclays is confident of an independent future, its chief executive said on Friday, dismissing speculation that its failure to win control of ABN AMRO could leave it vulnerable to takeover.

Merrill Lynch & Co said on Friday it would post a third-quarter loss after writing down $4.5 billion in collateralized debt obligations and subprime mortgage holdings.

Bear Stearns Cos Inc said on Thursday it expects that departing star money manager will take about $8 billion of its asset management division's $44 billion of assets with him.

Bear Stearns Cos Inc is seeing renewed flows in the financial markets as fear eases after this summer's credit crunch, the firm's president said on Thursday.

Insurer Old Mutual Plc plans to buy back 350 million pounds ($714 million) of its shares, roughly 4 percent of its capital, as part of a programme to improve capital efficiency, it said on Wednesday.

Interstate Bakeries Corp, the bankrupt maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies snacks, said on Wednesday its lenders reduced the amount the company can borrow as it struggles to stay in business.

Stocks declined slightly on Wednesday as a broker's weak outlook on some chip makers weighed on the sector, while data showing continued growth in the services sector helped limit losses.

Northern Rock's advisers are in talks with U.S. buyout firm JC Flowers over a rescue bid for the stricken UK mortgage bank, as U.S. firm Cerberus also considers a move, sources familiar with the matter said.

Gold bounced and gained as much as $5 on Wednesday after falling to a one-week low the previous day, suggesting that fundamentals still favored the metal used as an alternative investment to bonds and currencies.

Even the most luxurious, expensive homes are feeling the impact of the credit crunch -- $3 million discounts.

Germany's biggest bank expects a $2 billion 3q profit despite big hits from global credit market problems