UNITED STATES

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday he was confident there was enough political unity on Capitol Hill for the Senate to forge a strong financial regulatory bill despite differences over some parts of it.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he wanted Britain's financial watchdog to investigate U.S. bank Goldman Sachs after it was charged with fraud by U.S. regulators.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday he was confident there was enough political unity on Capitol Hill for the Senate to forge a strong financial regulatory bill despite differences over some parts of it.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he wanted Britain's financial regulator to conduct a special investigation into U.S. bank Goldman Sachs .

The board of New York City's bankrupt Off-Track Betting Corporation voted on Saturday to continue operations for another year, just one day before a scheduled shutdown of the horse racing gambling parlors.

European Union finance ministers failed to agree on Saturday how to impose a bank levy, possibly delaying a global accord on taxing the financiers many accuse of causing recession.

Greece will decide within weeks on whether to activate a euro zone aid package, Prime Minister George Papandreou said, as a poll showed austerity measures had begun hitting Athenians' pocket books.

U.S. regulators on Friday seized eight banks with assets totaling more than $6 billion, raising the tally this year to 51 failed banks and adding to the carnage of small institutions that is expected to peak this year.

With some of Wall Street's most volatile names on the earnings calendar next week, investors may want to keep the antacids handy.

World stock markets dropped on Friday after U.S. regulators charged Goldman Sachs Group Inc. with fraud related to subprime mortgages, while the euro dropped on worries about Greece's debt crisis.

The Office of Thrift Supervision, the regulator of Washington Mutual before it became the biggest banking bust in U.S. history, came under fire on Friday by lawmakers probing the roots of the financial crisis.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc was charged with fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its marketing of a subprime mortgage product, igniting a battle between Wall Street's most powerful bank and the nation's top securities regulator.

Goldman Sachs Inc may have to cough up a big fine to settle the civil lawsuit brought by U.S. regulators and the issue poses the biggest threat to the reputation of the influential bank, analysts said.

Permits to build new U.S. homes surged in March to a 17-month peak and construction activity was the most vigorous in more than a year, providing fresh evidence that economic prospects are brightening.

Senator Blanche Lincoln on Friday unveiled a long-awaited draft bill to regulate the $450 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market, taking a tougher tack against big banks than the Senate Banking Committee or House bills on the issue.

The chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp on Friday said that for years before Washington Mutual became the biggest bank bust in U.S. history, the agency was prevented from examining the bank by a rival regulator.

The U.S. central bank should exit from its extraordinarily accommodative monetary policy as deliberately as it can, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Friday.

Investors slammed the door on a six-day winning streak for U.S. stocks with a sell-off on Friday after Goldman Sachs was charged with fraud by U.S. regulators and corporate earnings fell short of heightened expectations.

Unemployment rates continued to fall in March in many U.S. states, the Labor Department said on Friday, sparking cautious optimism that an economic recovery is dawning.

More U.S. graduates are likely to work with aid groups and charities after an overhaul of the country's student loan program lessens their debt repayment burden, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said.

Countries negotiating a deal to curb trade in fake and pirated goods are close to reaching an agreement in talks that have raised concerns among digital rights advocates, U.S. trade officials said on Friday.