U.S. sues Deutsche Bank over bad home loansThe U.S. government sued Deutsche Bank, accusing it of lying about the quality of home loans it handled under a government program and demanding that the bank repay hundreds of millions of dollars of losses on those loans. The mortgages, guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, are expected to cost the government more than $1 billion. They came from loans issued by MortgageIT, a company that Deutsche acquired in 2007. The bank issued a statement saying it was not involved in most of the 39,000 loans cited in the complaint.
BP to pay $25M over North Slope oil spillBP's subsidiary in Alaska will pay a $25 million civil penalty under a settlement that comes five years after more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from company pipelines on the North Slope. The penalty is the largest per barrel civil penalty assessed, exceeding the statutory maximum because the settlement, resolves claims other than the spill, according to the EPA. The settlement also calls for BP Exploration Alaska Inc. to install a systemwide pipeline integrity management program.
Sears CEO: This time we'll really turn it aroundSears' new CEO pledged to help turn around the ailing retailer by relying on its core brands like Craftsman and Lands' End and being smarter about marketing. Louis D'Ambrosio told shareholders at Sears Holding Corp.'s annual meeting that improving the company's long-sagging clothing business will be a priority. He did not lay out a detailed plan for how to achieve that, although he cited strong hopes for two new clothing lines in particular: the Kardashian Collection, which debuts in August in 400 Sears stores, and Sofia Vergara, from the star of ABC's "Modern Family." Sears warned late Monday that its first-quarter loss will be bigger than expected.
Chinese company agrees to bail out SaabSaab Automobile, the struggling Swedish automaker, received a lifeline when a Beijing company agreed to provide a loan to help restart production and open access to the booming Chinese market. The Chinese company, Hawtai Motor, will provide 150 million euros, or $222 million, in financing, including 120 million euros for a 29.9 percent equity stake in Spyker Cars, the Dutch company that bought Saab from General Motors last year.
Microsoft's Bing to be default on BlackBerrysMicrosoft Corp.'s Bing will be the default search engine and map application on Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry smartphones, a boon for the software maker as it seeks expand in mobile devices and catch up with Google Inc. Bing will be "deeply integrated" into the devices, creating "unique experiences for millions of BlackBerry customers," Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said at the BlackBerry World trade show in Orlando, Fla.
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