The Royal Bank of Scotland warns UK staff of disciplinary action if their main account is not one operated by the firm.

Reuters - The Carlyle Group is raising a $15 billion U.S. leveraged buyout fund as the boom in private equity investing shows no signs of abating, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Reuters - For the first time since 2003, General Motors Corp. is giving bonuses in the form of stock to Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and other top executives.

A takeover of Australian airline Qantas hits turbulence after a shareholder says it will reject the $8.8bn offer.

Nike, the world's largest maker of sports clothing and shoes, reports a better-than-expected 8% rise in profits.

A US Federal Reserve official admits it should have been aware of risks posed by the sub-prime mortgage market.

Two former accountants for the disgraced Japanese internet firm Livedoor are jailed for fraud.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is to pay out $529m in annual bonuses to 800,000 of its US workers.

Reuters - An $8.7 billion bid for Qantas Airways Ltd. , the world's biggest airline takeover, was in disarray on Friday after a key shareholder said it would vote against the offer, forcing the buyout group to rethink its deal.

Reuters - General Electric Co. said on Friday it would launch a $1.14 billion takeover bid for leasing firm Sanyo Electric Credit Co. (8565.T), marking a potential windfall for top shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc. .

The Royal Bank of Scotland warns UK staff of disciplinary action if their main account is not one operated by the firm.

Reuters - Blackstone Group LP, an investment firm known for taking huge companies into private ownership, filed on Thursday to bring part of itself public in an offering worth up to $4 billion.

Reuters - Some executives within Citigroup are pushing for the U.S. banking giant to make a bid for ABN AMRO , which is in discussions about a possible merger with Barclays , the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Reuters - General Electric Co. said on Friday it would launch a $1.14 billion takeover bid for leasing firm Sanyo Electric Credit Co. (8565.T) to further expand into Japan's $68 billion leasing market.

Reuters - An insider trading case starting on Monday against Citigroup is not aimed at preventing investment banks from proprietary trading in the shares of a client's takeover target, Australian regulators say.

Reuters - China is on course to become the world's second-largest consumer market by 2015, but foreign firms looking to tap the retail boom must brace for a bumpy ride and possible price wars, Credit Suisse said on Friday.

AP - Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac, emerging from an accounting scandal, reported Friday that its profit edged up to $2.2 billion last year from $2.1 billion in 2005 as income grew in its business of guaranteeing home loans.

Australia looks set to lift its moratorium on new uranium mines, as prices rise for the nuclear fuel.

Air hostesses told to lose weight or lose their jobs win a partial victory in their legal spat with Indian Airlines.

Reuters - Italian utility Enel and Spanish builder Acciona are discussing a possible joint bid for Spanish power giant Endesa expected to top a 41 billion euro ($55 billion) offer from Germany's E.ON.

Reuters - TD Banknorth Inc. said on Friday it plans to cut 400 jobs and shut up to 24 branches as part of its plan to lower operating expenses by 5 percent to 8 percent by 2008.

The Motley Fool - The Ides of March have come and gone, the spring bulbs have started to bloom, and almost a quarter of the year has already gone by. And while you'd probably rather be indulging your spring fever by puttering in the garden or tracking baseball's spring training, it's also a good time to take a close look at your 401(k).

A sharp rise in sales of existing homes in the Northeast powered a national increase of 3.9 percent.

US existing home sales rise at their fastest rate in almost three years, as prices slip, official figures show.

The European Commission warns Germany it faces legal action if it bans online betting and internet-based lotteries.

Sony has launched the PlayStation 3 in Europe, with some gamers scooping free HD televisions.

Sub-prime mortgage lender Kensington issues a profit warning and says its chief executive is to step down.

Reuters - The pace of U.S. existing home sales unexpectedly rose in February, increasing 3.9 percent to a 6.69 million-unit annual rate as mild weather spurred home buying, the National Association of Realtors said on Friday.

Reuters - Auto parts supplier Magna International Inc. (MGa.TO) has joined with a private equity partner to offer to buy Chrysler Group for between $4.6 billion and $4.7 billion, an analyst said on Friday.

Reuters - Staffing services firm Kronos Inc. said on Friday that it agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Hellman and Friedman LLC for about $1.8 billion.

AP - Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac, emerging from an accounting scandal, reported Friday it lost $480 million in the fourth quarter as a result of moves in interest rates that hurt its business of guaranteeing home loans.

KeyBanc Capital Markets said in a report that a Canadian parts supplier had offered to bid about $4.7 billion for the automotive unit.

Private equity firms seeking to buy the airline extended the deadline for completing a deal by two weeks.

Oil prices rise to their highest level this year after 15 British Navy personnel were seized by Iranian forces in the Gulf.

Hundreds of workers at the Airbus plant at Broughton walk out in an unofficial strike over planned job losses.

A US judge bans internet phone firm Vonage from using patents owned by US phone giant Verizon.

CD sales in the US are down one fifth in the first three months of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006.

The European Commission warns Germany it faces legal action if it bans online betting and internet-based lotteries.

Reuters - The pace of U.S. existing-home sales rose unexpectedly in February, but inventories of unsold homes also gained, according to a report on Friday that offered mixed news on the downtrodden housing sector.

Reuters - A big shareholder of No. 3 Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial Corp. said on Friday that Nikko is worth a lot more than Citigroup is currently offering.

Reuters - Increasing defaults on subprime loans in the United States could spread to other markets and sectors of the U.S. economy, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Friday.

Some public health experts say that if the situation worsens, it could lead to a breakdown in the nation?s immunization program.

E.ON has until Monday to improve its 41bn euro ($54.5bn, £27.7bn) bid for Spanish power giant Endesa as the bid battle nears its end.

Reuters - Blackstone's pending $4-billion initial public offering may be tempting for individual investors, but shareholders beware: the firm's growth will be tough to maintain, and its business difficult to grasp, IPO analysts said on Friday.

Reuters - Rising defaults on subprime mortgages for riskier borrowers in the United States could affect other areas of the U.S. economy, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Friday.

Shares in car giant DaimlerChrysler rise sharply on renewed speculation about a possible sale of its struggling Chrysler business.

Reuters - The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. on Friday corrected the closing value for the Nasdaq Composite Index to fix erroneous trades, making the index lower on the day, not higher as originally indicated, a spokesman said.

AP - Sales of existing homes rose in February by the largest amount in nearly three years, but worsening troubles in subprime mortgages were viewed as a roadblock to a full-fledged rebound. The National Association of Realtors reported Friday that existing home sales climbed 3.9 percent last month, pushed up by a milder-than-normal winter that boosted sales in areas of the country such as the Northeast.

Three minutes of sparring and the sweet science becomes a test stamina for a white-collar boxer.

Battling the irresistible impulse to allocate a windfall of money ? or spend it ? long before you even have the cash.

The US tells Malaysia that it will not be able to agree a free trade agreement this summer as hoped.

Reuters - U.S. blue chips inched up on Friday, capping a rally in which the S&P 500 logged its biggest weekly gain since 2003 on speculation that the Federal Reserve's next move will be an interest rate cut.

Reuters - Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said on Friday it plans to sell its engineered products unit to private equity firm Carlyle Group for $1.475 billion under a multiyear program to focus on its tire business.

Refund anticipation loans, the money-making service provided by tax preparers, appears to be falling on hard times.

A 2003 tax cut includes a provision that has given some foreign companies a financial advantage over their U.S. competitors.

Switzerland?s more discreet banks can now be found throughout the world, selling more sophisticated investment vehicles to attract high-net-worth individuals.

The surprise announcement signaled BP?s deepening involvement in Russia?s turbulent energy sector.

The chief executive of Total will not resign despite preliminary corruption charges against him over a 1997 contract with Iran.

Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, the chief of Fresh Del Monte Produce, spoke about price inflation, focusing on new markets and the around-the-world business trips his job requires.

Worsening troubles in subprime mortgages were viewed as a roadblock to a full-fledged rebound.

Analysts say any negative findings could hurt the two companies that dominate the $3.2 billion domestic stent business.

Brian Duffy has left the magazine to write a book and his job responsibilities have been given to his No. 2, Brian Kelly.

?Medical tourism? will become one of the benefits corporations will be offering soon.

Big personalities and big corporate news stole the show this week.

The Internet start-up was ordered to pay a $2.4 million fine ? the largest in corporate Japanese history ? for violating securities laws.

Reuters - U.S. stock investors will look to a slew of economic data next week to sustain Wall Street's recovery, but lingering worries about the economy and the subprime mortgage market could create more jitters.

Switzerland?s banks can now be found throughout the world, selling more sophisticated investment vehicles to attract high-net-worth individuals.

A surprise jump in home sales eased concern that frailty in the housing market would hurt economic growth.

A judge ordered the Internet-based telephone service to stop using technologies patented by Verizon Communications.

The proposal is intended to resolve disagreements over labor, environmental and other issues blocking approval of pending trade deals.

Readers were overwhelmingly opposed to allowing use of cellphones on airplanes.

Apple is finally being taken seriously not just by the true believers, but by just about everybody.

The Italian utility Enel and the Spanish construction conglomerate Acciona said they were working on a bid for the Spanish utility Endesa.

Nissan said that 12.5 percent of the 6,200 workers at its two Tennessee plants accepted early retirement and buyout offers.

Ohio, which had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation at the end of last year, plans to issue $100 million in taxable municipal bonds next month to help homeowners refinance mortgages.

Reuters - Core U.S. inflation is likely to drop to 2 percent from about 2 1/4 percent, but pushing it below that may require higher interest rates, Federal Reserve Governor Frederic Mishkin said on Friday.