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Finance Minister Naoto Kan’s readiness to debate Japan’s first sales-tax increase since 1997 signals the risk of a fiscal crisis may be weighing heavier with policy makers than dangers to economic growth.
A government tax panel convenes in coming weeks to review changes and hear recommendations of a private-sector board, after Kan last month […]

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Japan will implement rules that tighten lending restrictions for Aiful Corp. and other consumer finance companies set to take effect in June, though enforcement may be eased to aid borrowers, a government official said.
The Financial Services Agency may consider changes to rules for implementing a law that puts a ceiling on the amount […]

A fitful economic recovery is drawing strength from a stabilizing job market and signs that manufacturing will contribute to the rebound.
The latest sign was a government report Thursday that the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. And the four-week average for claims, […]

Confidence among U.S. consumers increased in December for the first time in three months as the pace of job cuts slowed, easing concern spending will falter.
The Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment rose to 73.4, higher than forecast, from 67.4 in November, according to data released today. The December figure exceeds […]

Could the foreclosure plague be ending?
Foreclosure filings were down 3% in October, the third consecutive month-over-month dip, according to RealtyTrac, the online seller of foreclosed homes.
To be sure, foreclosure rates are still elevated from a year ago: They’re up 18% compared with October 2008. But the month-over-month decrease followed a 4% drop in filings […]

Stocks ended mixed Wednesday, giving up bigger gains after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and said it will keep them low for an extended period.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained 30 points, or 0.3%. The Dow had gained as much as 156 points in the afternoon, but couldn’t sustain those gains […]

The top U.S. securities regulator on Wednesday called on Corporate America to upgrade its proxy voting practices to ensure shareholders a greater voice in governing the companies they own.
“It is imperative that our proxy voting process work,” Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro told the Practising Law Institute conference in New York.
“The failure […]

If only everyone had Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s chief problem — too much success leading to a surplus of riches.
It’s a growing public relations nightmare for Wall Street’s dominant firm as it prepares to report another round of robust profits and update its bonus pool, which is on a pace to top $20 billion […]

Bank of America said Monday it will pay the U.S. government $425 million to end a federal backstop of assets related to its purchase of troubled brokerage Merrill Lynch earlier this year.
The government agreed to guarantee $118 billion in assets in January as part of a plan to help BofA absorb Merrill Lynch, which […]

Barack Obama promised universal health care and a mass conversion to green energy when he launched his presidential campaign. On that frigid February day in 2007, the economy was growing at a 2.8% clip. Obama stuck to the same promises a year later when he won Iowa, as the housing market was slumping into […]