MetLife won an accord to split most declines on $1 billion in commercial mortgages included in the $15.5 billion purchase of the AIG unit, according to a MetLife regulatory filing and the companys chief financial officer. A corporate vehicle owned by the Fed and New York-based AIG will use MetLife stock gained in the sale to pay for future real estate losses, said two people with knowledge of the arrangement.
AIGs Japan mortgage holdings were deemed a “more troubled asset” by MetLife, which is also indemnified from - - - - >

The data was stolen by a former information technology employee about three years ago, the Geneva-based unit of HSBC said today in a statement. French authorities, which seized the data, have told their Swiss counterparts that they wont use the information “inappropriately,” the bank said.
“The bank does not believe that the stolen data has or will allow any third party to access any client account,” HSBC said in the statement. The accounts were all opened before October 2006, the bank said.
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Northern Rock said it posted a profit of 466.7 million pounds ($696 million) in the second half, following a loss of 724.2 million in the first half of 2009.
For the full year, Northern Rock reported a pretax loss of 257.5 million pounds ($384 million), down from a loss of 1.355 billion pounds in the previous year.
Loan loss impairments rose to 1.05 billion pounds from 894 million pounds in 2008.
“Loan loss impairment charges are expected to remain high during 2010, relative to historic norms, but below the level recorded in 2009,” the company said.
The results were the last for the old - - - - >

Yang and many other young Chinese are finding their aspirations thwarted by an overheated property market that is enriching already wealthy speculators, local officials and other Communist Party allies.
Its a hard reality for a generation that views home ownership as a given after reforms more than a decade ago created a housing market open to the masses. Its also a challenge for leaders whose reliance on rising property values and land sales to property developers risks letting the market spiral out of control.
“I sigh at every fancy apartment building I see on the way to work everyday, but that wont - - - - >

AIGs $78 billion of bonds surged to 18-month highs since Feb. 26, the last trading day before the insurer disclosed the first of the two divestitures, according to Bloomberg data. The New York-based firms debt is the best performer this month through yesterday on Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. Its subordinated debt jumped as much as 13 cents on the dollar.
The insurer, once the worlds largest, said March 1 it was selling AIA Group Ltd. to Prudential Plc for $35.5 billion. A week later, MetLife - - - - >

The purchase of Citi Property Investors will give New York- based Apollo 65 real estate investments in 26 countries with a net asset value of $3.5 billion, said the person, who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private. Apollos global head of real estate, Joseph Azrack, helped assemble the portfolio when he led the Citigroup unit from 2004 to 2008.
The sale to Apollo shows the units limited partners have confidence in the buyer and a recovery in global prices, said Matthew Anderson, partner - - - - >

The purchase of Citi Property Investors will give New York- based Apollo 65 real estate investments in 26 countries with a net asset value of $3.5 billion, said the person, who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private. Apollos global head of real estate, Joseph Azrack, helped assemble the portfolio when he led the Citigroup unit from 2004 to 2008.
The sale to Apollo shows the units limited partners have confidence in the buyer and a recovery in global prices, said Matthew Anderson, partner - - - - >

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told J&J in 1999 that its marketing materials for geriatric patients overstated Risperdals benefits and minimized risks. A J&J business plan for the next year called for increasing the drugs market share for elderly dementia sales, an unapproved use, according to newly unsealed documents in a lawsuit by the state of Louisiana.
“The geriatric market represents Risperdals second wave of growth,” J&J officials wrote in the business plan. “The aging population will continue to drive market growth well into the next - - - - >

The measure also prevents doctors from absorbing a crippling cut in Medicare payments, extends health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and gives cash-starved states help with Medicaid, the federal-state program providing health care to the poor and disabled.
The unemployment insurance alone - to provide weekly unemployment checks averaging above $300 to people whose core 26-week benefit package has run out - will cost $66 billion through December. In some states people are eligible to receive benefits for up to 99 weeks.
The bill, and the test vote Tuesday, demonstrate the difficulty Democrats face as they focus on jobs. It doesnt include - - - - >

“This is a purely market-driven investment behavior. I would hope not to see this matter politicized,” the chief foreign exchange regulator, Yi Gang, said at a news conference. He was responding to a question about concerns among some American lawmakers that Beijings holdings of U.S. debt pose a political threat to the United States.
“China is a responsible investor and we fully believe such investments can be mutually beneficial,” Yi said.
Chinas $2.4 trillion in foreign reserves are the worlds largest and their management is closely watched by financial markets, especially as governments raise money for stimulus and struggling companies look for - - - - >