MetLife sells bank deposits unit to GE Capital MetLife announced Tuesday that it had agreed sell the bulk of its retail bank deposits business to GE Capital, as it seeks to focus on its core insurance business. Under terms of the deal, GE Capital will acquire about $7.5 billion of MetLife's deposits. The rest, about $3 billion in deposits, will be transferred over the next six months, MetLife said in a statement. MetLife is swiftly dismantling its banking business to ward off increased regulatory oversight. Although its deposit business, founded in 2001, has always been a small sliver of the company -- representing just 2 percent -- it was large enough to classify MetLife as a bank holding company.
Morgan Stanley layoffs hit hard in NYC Morgan Stanley, the bank whose shares have declined 44 percent this year, said in a filing that 580 of the 1,600 job cuts announced earlier this month will come from New York City. "Rolling layoffs" began Dec. 15, the New York-based firm said in a submission to the state's Labor Department. Chief Executive Officer James Gorman, 53, is grappling with Europe's debt crisis and concern that U.S. economic growth will slow, crimping demand for trading and investment-banking services. The 1,600 figure amounts to about 2.6 percent of the 62,648 employees Morgan Stanley had at the end of September.
A new LCD panel antitrust settlement Sharp Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and five other makers of liquid crystal display panels used in computers and televisions agreed to pay $538.6 million to settle antitrust claims by indirect purchasers. Earlier this month, the panel makers agreed to pay $388 million to settle price-fixing claims by direct buyers of the products as part of a series of cases consolidated in federal court in San Francisco. Under the new agreement, about $501 million will be available for partial refunds to consumers and about $37 million to compensate governments and other public entities for damages, according to a court filing.
Pate and truffles on Wendy's menu in Japan Wendy's Co., the third-biggest U.S. fast-food chain, is adding goose-liver pate and truffles to burgers as it invests as much as $200 million on a return to Japan after leaving the country in 2009. The Japan Premium sandwich sells for 1,280 yen ($16) at Wendy's in Tokyo's Omotesando luxury shopping district, the first of a targeted 100 shops. "We think the fast-food market here is ready for something different," Ernest Higa, chief executive officer of Wendy's Japan, said at the opening.
Times agrees to hawk regional papers group The New York Times Co. announced it had reached an agreement to sell the company's Regional Media Group to Halifax Media Holdings of Daytona Beach, Fla., for $143 million. The group has 16 newspapers, including the Gainesville Sun in Florida; the Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif.; the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida; and the Tuscaloosa News in Alabama. The deal is expected to be finalized in the next few weeks.
FROM NEWS SERVICES
