IBT Staff Reporter

The Securities and Exchange Commission notified Goldman Sachs Group Inc that it may file a civil case against the bank related to a $1.3 billion offering of subprime mortgage securities, Goldman said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Banks grabbed 530 billion euros at the European Central Bank's second offering of cheap three-year funds on Wednesday, fuelling expectations that credit will flow to businesses and borrowing costs will ease for governments hit by the euro zone crisis.

French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen's alliance talks with General Motors may yet fail as the U.S. automaker hesitates over criticism from investors, a source with knowledge of the discussions said.

The economy grew a bit faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter on slightly firmer consumer and business spending, which could help to allay fears of a sharp slowdown in growth in early 2012.

There is a good chance young people growing up in today's always-wired world will eventually become bright, nimble decision makers - if they don't wind up intellectual lightweights unable to concentrate long enough to chew over a good book.

The economy grew a bit faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter on slightly firmer consumer and business spending, which could help to allay fears of a sharp slowdown in growth in early 2012.

A planned referendum in Ireland and a German court ruling cast new uncertainty on Tuesday over efforts to overcome the euro zone's debt crisis, just when a flood of central bank money appeared to be calming financial markets.

Former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, who lent his name to historic restrictions on banks' financial market trading, says regulators should not back down in imposing the curbs and that additional reforms to markets are necessary.

China will soon publish precise definitions of what constitutes insider trading that would make it easier to prosecute and punish illegal traders, the New Century magazine reported on its website, citing sources with knowledge of the situation.

Stock index futures edged up on Wednesday after European banks absorbed more than half a trillion euros as part of an effort to stabilize the euro zone's financial system.

Greece has invited bids for state-owned gas company DEPA, as it moves ahead with a privatization program targeted to raise 19 billion euros ($25.5 billion) by 2015.

Banks took 530 billion euros at the European Central Bank's second-ever offering of 3-year funding on Wednesday, essentially in line with market expectations.

Lawyers for Apple Inc. argued for its right to use the iPad trademark in China on Wednesday, as a higher court began a crucial hearing that could result in sales of the wildly popular tablet computer being halted throughout the Chinese mainland.

Stock index futures edged up on Wednesday after European banks absorbed more than half a trillion euros as part of an effort to stabilize the euro zone's financial system.

French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen's alliance talks with General Motors may yet fail as the U.S. automaker hesitates over criticism from investors, a source with knowledge of the discussions said.

Staples Inc , the largest U.S. office supply chain, reported a quarterly profit that narrowly beat analysts' estimates, helped by a slight increase in customer traffic at its North American business.

The founder of the online file-sharing site Megaupload.com has asked a New Zealand court to free nearly a quarter of a million dollars in frozen assets to pay for living expenses, including nannies and bodyguards, as a bid by the United States to put him back behind bars was thrown out of court on Wednesday.

France's data protection regulator will launch an official investigation into Google's new privacy policy and said that its preliminary view was that it did not conform with European laws on protecting individuals' privacy.

The European Central Bank is expected to pump half a trillion euros into the euro zone's troubled financial system for the second time in as many months on Wednesday in what it hopes will be the last such operation to fight the euro zone crisis.

Some Chinese Internet users have this week been able to access blocked websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, relishing the newfound freedom although the reason for the breach in China's Great Firewall of censorship was a mystery.

Taiwanese group HTC is confident new models coming to market in April will turn around the ailing fortunes of the world's No.5 smartphone maker, and help to boost its annual sales volumes above last year's level.

CVC Capital Partners is to buy Nordic construction products and machinery distributor Ahlsell from Cinven and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners for 1.8 billion euros ($2.4 billion), in Europe's biggest private equity deal since last summer.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a firmer open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones futures and Nasdaq 100 futures rising 0.1-0.2 percent at 4:58 a.m. ET.

Wolfgang Schaeuble was playing Sudoku on his iPad as he waited to hear whether Greece's negotiating team had persuaded private creditors to accept a bigger loss on their Greek bonds.

A long-running legal fight between Apple Inc and a debt-laden Chinese firm over the iPad trademark moved to a higher court on Wednesday, in a potentially decisive hearing that will set a precedent for the rest of mainland China.

Share of HTC Corp jumped on Wednesday after it launched its One series of models, taking the fight to Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc with fast graphic chips and advanced music and photography functions.

Microsoft Corp unveils the first widely available test version of Windows 8 on Wednesday, giving the public the first chance to try out the slick, new-look operating system it hopes will restore the company's fading tech supremacy.

Forgot where you put your glasses? A Japanese robot can find them for you, and guide you to where they are.

David Sokol, who left Berkshire Hathaway last year amid a scandal over his stock trading while at the company, would receive about $1 million in retirement payments every year, according to a regulatory filing.