INVESTMENT

Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, a multi-strategy investment fund with about $26.8 billion under management, filed for an initial public offering on Monday, making it the latest alternative investment firm to seek a public listing.

Discount brokerage Charles Schwab Corp. said on Monday it is undertaking a $3.5 billion capital restructuring program following completion of the sale of U.S. Trust Corp., sending its shares up more than 7 percent.

Man Group, the world's largest listed hedge fund group, is set to stage what will likely be the second-largest IPO on a U.S. exchange so far this year when it spins off its U.S. brokerage arm, MF Global, this month.

Investors sold European stocks and bought government bonds and gold as trading got underway for the second half of 2007 on Monday, driven by security concerns after weekend bomb plots in Britain and higher oil prices.

Manor Care Inc., the largest U.S. operator of homes for the elderly, said on Monday it agreed to be acquired by Carlyle Group for $4.9 billion, becoming the latest health care provider taken off the public market by a private equity buyer.

Stock index futures rose on Monday, boosted by takeover news in the telecommunications sector and before a report on manufacturing activity that could give clues on the outlook for profits.

Bank of America Corp. said on Monday it completed its $3.3 billion purchase of the U.S. Trust business from Charles Schwab Corp., and is defying analyst concern that it would have trouble retaining many of U.S. Trust's ultra-wealthy clients.

Morgan Stanley has applied to buy up to 10 percent of Chinatrust, Taiwan's largest credit card issuer, local media reported on Monday.

Bear Stearns Cos. may take until July 16 to tally losses at two struggling hedge funds that invested in risky mortgage-related securities, The Wall Street Journal Online reported on Monday.

Risks for the already sluggish performance of emerging debt markets this year are on the rise as liquidity starts to dry up this week, leaving investors warier of risky assets, which have already been shaken up by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis.

Global Tower Partners, a U.S. wireless tower operator, is to be bought by a consortium of infrastructure funds managed by members of Australia's Macquarie Group in a deal valued at $1.4 billion.

British cable operator Virgin Media has appointed Goldman Sachs to seek a possible buyer after it received approaches from various private equity firms, people familiar with the situation said on Sunday.

Bain Capital will buy UK-based food service company Brakes from private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, the companies said on Friday.

BCE Inc., Canada's largest telecommunications group, has agreed to a C$51.7 billion ($48.5 billion) offer from a group including the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, in what the purchasers said was the largest buyout in Canadian corporate history.

Investors are hoping the coming week brings some answers to the question of whether an improving U.S. economy unleashes inflationary forces, and one place to look will be in the June payrolls data.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday as banks and brokers retreated on concerns about the impact of tightening credit on takeovers and the subprime mortgage industry.

Scared by losses at two hedge funds that invested in securities backed by home loans, investors in securities backed by mortgages, junk bonds, and other assets are demanding more protection for the first time in years.

Wall Street underwriters kept busy in the second quarter, yet ebbing investor appetite for lower-rated debt and riskier assets may dampen their summer.

Commerce Bancorp Inc. on Friday announced the sudden departure of Chairman and Chief Executive Vernon Hill and said it had agreed with federal regulators on governance changes after coming under fire for its business dealings with insiders.

Court ruled the U.S. bank's 'Chinese Walls' were not breached when it traded shares in a company it knew was a takeover target.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat to slightly higher market open on Thursday ahead of a packed agenda that includes the latest interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve.