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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 […]

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, testifying before Congress for the first time since leaving office, defended his role Thursday in salvaging a controversial deal struck during the height of the banking panic last fall.
Lawmakers grilled Paulson about whether he overstepped his authority in pushing for Bank of America to follow through on its takeover […]

Prices at the pump dropped more than a dime over the past two weeks, according to a survey published Sunday.
The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline is $2.55, the Lundberg Survey found — a decline of 10.4 cents from June 26.
The decline was the first two-week drop since March, […]

A bank’s abrupt change of heart on a bond refinancing proposal is squeezing Kellwood Co., the Town and Country-based maker of Phat Farm, Sag Harbor and other clothing brands, a company executive said Friday.
Eric Hunter, Kellwood’s senior vice president of marketing, said Deutsche Bank had indicated it would agree to the refinancing plan […]

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis named Christopher J. Waller senior vice president and director of research and Robert H. Rasch executive vice president and senior policy adviser.
Sachs Electric promoted Joseph T. Barnard to vice president, Sachs Select.
The Vandiver Group added Mike Amelung as Web developer and Kanna Taylor as a […]

Ford Motor Co. said Friday that it is giving its hourly workers five more weeks to decide whether they want to accept the company’s buyout and early retirement offers.
The original deadline was Friday, but Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski said the company is extending the date to June 26. "We extended the deadline […]

The Small Business Administration plans to begin dispersing funds in mid-June for a new, highly anticipated emergency lending program, but don’t race off to the bank to fill out an application just yet. Many lenders are still sitting on the sidelines, waiting for more details from the SBA before they decide whether or not […]