Our Business News

The strategy paper says shareholders should expect to be wiped out and unsecured bondholders can expect writedownsBOE Deputy Governor Paul Tucker is leading efforts to devise emergency resolution plans for banksTuckers says this represents the first steps to end “too big to fail” problem of large banks(Financial Times) — US and UK regulators will unveil the first cross-border plans to deal with failing global banks on Monday, outlining proposals to force shareholders and creditors on both sides of the Atlantic to take losses and to ensure sufficient capital exists in the banks’ headquarters to protect taxpayers.Writing in the Financial Times, [...]

President Barack Obama on Wednesday rejected a nascent Republican plan that would have extended the bitter fight over the fiscal cliff into next year, closer to the deadline when the statutory borrowing limit must be passed. A report in the New York Times said this fallback position was gaining favor among Republican leaders. It would allow them to gain more leverage knowing that an increase in the debt ceiling must be passed. But, in blunt terms, Obama said that he would not negotiate a budget deal with the threat of the debt limit hanging over his head. “That is a [...]

UBS Wealth Management Americas released its 2013 compensation plan to its financial advisers on Tuesday, announcing changes that will give incentives to advisers to sell a wider range of products and bring in more revenue. There are also changes to the compensation structure that will likely help the company retain more advisers in what is an increasingly competitive landscape for top talent. The new structure could also encourage UBS advisers to become more tight-fisted with discounts it gives on clients’ advisory accounts. Jason Chandler, head of the firm’s 7,000 advisers, told Reuters that the new plan reflects clients’ desire to [...]

NEW YORK More mannequins are on the floors of J.C. Penney stores. About 40,000 more. They are one of the most visible changes J.C. Penney Co Inc Chief Creative Officer Michael Fisher has made to try to revive the 110-year-old department store chain, whose sales plunged 26.6 percent last quarter and whose shares have tumbled more than 50 percent this year. Penney has a plan to transform its 700 larger stores by 2015: each store will contain 100 boutiques, offering brand-name fashion and home merchandise ranging from Levi’s to PVH Corp’s Izod to Martha Stewart. Eight boutiques have been rolled [...]

Bank of America Corp , the second largest U.S. bank, is holding off on plans for new checking-account fees that could have affected some 10 million customers by year’s end, avoiding a possible repeat of last year’s protests over consumer banking fees, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The move to back off on its plan at least until late 2013 comes amid a review of Bank of America’s retail banking business, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the bank’s plans. The bank is looking for ways to cut losses it takes on the 20 percent of customers [...]

Health exchanges are scheduled to go live in 2014 as instituted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which means health insurance companies will be competing for business. For the 30 million Americans currently uninsured and wanting health insurance, these exchanges will offer affordable health care as well as a variety of choices in terms of the providers and plans. “Consumers are going to have more access to health insurance choices then they have had historically,” says Michael Thompson, principal, human resource services at accounting firm PwC. “Options will range from lower-cost less coverage plans to very rich [...]

Despite millions of Americans still facing significant problems with unemployment and debt, experts expect spending to increase this holiday season compared to last year. Holiday spending increased 4.1% from 2010 to 2011, but consumers should be careful not get caught up in the hype and start the new year saddled with debt. To keep holiday costs down, consumers need to create holiday budget strategies that help them save – and they should start with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These massive spending days offer consumers valuable savings on holiday gifts and other purchases, but it’s easy to fall into the [...]

With Black Friday just a few days away, now is the time for shoppers to prepare to take advantage of all the rock-bottom deals. Gone are the days when retailers kept their door buster deals secret to the last minute. More stores continue to leak this year’s bargains nearly every day, allowing shoppers to adopt an efficient and cost-savings Black Friday game plan. “There’s more to tackling Black Friday deals than battling long lines,” says consumer savings expert Andrea Woroch. “A plan and some much-needed prep work will get you ahead of the rest, even with a belly full of [...]

Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurance plans must fully cover preventive care without charging members anything out of pocket. But there’s one big exception that affects almost half of today’s workers. If a health plan is “grandfathered,” it doesn’t have to follow this and a handful of other Affordable Care Act provisions. According to the recent Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust 2012 Employer Health Benefits Survey, 48% of covered workers are in grandfathered plans this year, down from 56% last year. A grandfathered group plan is one that your employer established before March 23, 2010, and has [...]

The election is over and everyone is holding their collective breath to see what will happen during President Barack Obama’s second term. We are again looking at a Democrat Senate and a Republican House with a couple of shifts in party seats, which could lead to the same partisan bickering scenario that we’ve witnessed with sorrow during the last four years. In his concession speech, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called for a meeting of minds and an end to dissension. Obama also called for an end to political gridlock to move the country forward. Will that happen? It is [...]