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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 […]

A year that started in gloom and doom could end in cheers for U.S. corporate profits and leave the stock market positioned for a strong start to 2010.
Analysts have been forecasting a big jump in fourth-quarter earnings compared to a year earlier when the entire Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended in a per-share […]

Honda Motor Co. nearly tripled its annual profit forecasts and more upside may be ahead, with the company taking a conservative view on the yen and with the effect of easing government incentives unknown.
Honda (HMC), the world’s seventh-biggest car maker, has weathered the industry turmoil that drove two U.S. automakers to bankruptcy this year […]

Senate leaders on Monday unveiled their proposal to tackle overdraft fees, the penalties banks charge customers who spend more than they have in their accounts.
Echoing legislation offered in the House by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the Senate bill would require banks to ask customers before enrolling them in overdraft programs. In addition, like the […]

Retail sales fell in September after a popular program aimed at boosting auto sales ended, but the drop was smaller than economists had expected, government data showed Wednesday.
The Commerce Department said total retail sales fell 1.5% last month, down sharply from an increase of 2.7% in August, when overall sales were boosted by […]

As thousands of jobless Americans lose their weekly unemployment checks every day, Congress is still debating who should qualify for a benefits extension.
Two weeks after the House passed an extension, Senate Democrats Thursday introduced a bill to lengthen unemployment insurance by up to 14 weeks in all states. Those living in states with unemployment […]

A member of the Cadbury family has described Kraft’s takeover bid for the British confectionery group as a “horror story.”
In comments to the Sunday Telegraph, Felicity Loudon, whose grandfather Egbert Cadbury was managing director of Cadbury Brothers, said she believed it was worth fighting to keep Cadbury out of the hands of North America’s […]

The Federal Reserve is willing to work with U.S. lawmakers on ways to release names of companies that borrow from the central bank after a time lag so the disclosures do not disrupt markets, a Fed official said.
Scott Alvarez, the Fed’s general counsel, told the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on Friday that […]

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 […]

The United States wants world leaders to agree this week to launch a major rethink of the world economy in November as they try to strengthen the global economy after its near meltdown.
Documents outlining the U.S. position ahead of the September 24-25 Pittsburgh summit of Group of 20 leaders said exporters, which include China, […]