IBT Staff Reporter

Shares of China Merchants Bank Co. fell 0.9% to HK$34.20 in early Hong Kong trading Friday after the Federal Reserve announced Thursday it had approved the bank's plan to open a branch in New York.

Citigroup said Thursday its former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Charles Prince, will retire from the firm with a roughly $40 million retirement package.

American International Group shares fell on Thursday, a day after the world’s largest insurer reported that its third quarter profit dipped 13 percent on losses in consumer finance and exposure to the subprime mortgage market.

HSBC Holdings, Plc, the largest european bank, said Thursday that it was stopping all sales and trades of mortgage-backed securities as a result of closing its U.S. mortgage desk, according to reports.

Wall Street banks are in for about $64 billion in total write-downs related to collateralized debt obligations, as banks have likely not reported the full extent of their losses, according to Citigroup research.

While the economy has been “resilient in recent months,” policy makers at the Federal Reserve do not see that such performance is likely to be sustained in the near term, as inflationary pressure increases, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.

Most retail chains suffered through a dismal, record-warm October, with leader Wal-Mart Stores Inc falling short of Wall Street same-store sales estimates and the apparel sector continuing to struggle.

Japan's Canon Inc won a patent lawsuit against a recycled ink cartridge supplier as the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal against a lower court decision in favour of the camera and office gear maker.

India's largest drug maker by sales, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, has resolved a U.S. patent dispute over tamsulosin capsules, the company said, sending its shares up as much as 3 percent.

U.S. pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly & Co, maker of antidepressant Prozac and erectile dysfunction drug Cialis, said on Thursday it plans to develop more drugs in China because of lower costs and an ample pool of talent.

Japanese investors held onto their cash instead of piling more into investment trusts in October, data showed on Thursday, a sign that the U.S. mortgage mess and ensuing market turmoil may be hurting their appetite for risk.

AXA, Europe's second- biggest insurer, reported a 22.3 percent rise in nine-month group revenue that was boosted by higher sales in countries such as Britain and the United States. Total sales rose to 71.652 billion euros ($105.1 billion).

BNP Paribas, France's biggest listed bank, reported a 21 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, in sharp contrast to the slump in earnings of many major banks following the global credit crisis.

Marsh & McLennan Cos, one of the world's largest insurance brokers, said on Thursday quarterly profit soared eleven-fold from a sale of its Putnam Investments unit, but operating earnings missed forecasts.

Italian bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena on Thursday said it has agreed to buy Banca Antonveneta from Spanish bank Banco Santander for 9 billion euros ($13.2 billion) to boost its presence in Italy.

Technology stocks fell on Thursday as investors worried that the spillover from the credit crisis may be starting to hurt business spending.

Most retail chains suffered through a dismal, record-warm October, with leader Wal-Mart Stores Inc falling short of Wall Street same-store sales estimates and the apparel sector continuing to struggle.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday the U.S. economy has been resilient in the face of credit market strains but it faces risks on both the growth and inflation fronts. he added that sharp increases in the prices of crude oil have put upward pressure on inflation and may impose further restraint on economic activity

Warner Bros. home entertainment division said on Thursday it was buying UK-based games publisher TT Games, the business behind Traveler's Tales and the LEGO Star Wars series.

Most companies do not stop staff from downloading music from the Internet, despite the risks posed to work computers, a survey has found.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc launched a new graphics chip on Thursday modified to crunch huge amounts of data, with potential customers in financial, engineering and scientific industries.

Yahoo is racing to lock down phone distribution deals before Google's own mobile strategy ever takes wing.

Japanese fashionistas queued around the block to spot celebrities and buy handbags at the opening of Giorgio Armani's new tower in Tokyo, showing that when it comes to a love for luxury labels, few can match Japan.

A pension fund group has demanded that Harley Snyder resign as Countrywide Financial Corp's lead director and compensation committee chairman, saying he lacks the independence to make the largest U.S. mortgage lender's board accountable to shareholders.

OPEC's reluctance to open the spigots as oil nears $100 a barrel could backfire on the cartel as alternative energy sources and consumer conservation dig into demand.

A day after New York City came up with a $1,000 bagel, a local restaurateur unveiled a $25,000 chocolate sundae on Wednesday, setting a Guinness world record for the most expensive dessert.

New applications for jobless aid fell unexpectedly last week, dropping by 13,000, but a more reliable moving average of these claims rose to the highest level in six months, government data on Thursday showed.

Flags flew at half-mast across Finland on Thursday in mourning for eight people killed by an 18-year-old gunman at a school hours after he posted a video on YouTube predicting a massacre there.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Japan on Thursday to resume a naval mission in support of U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan that has been stalled by a domestic political controversy.