Banking, Finance & Services

Last year, the CEOs of the 500 biggest U.S. companies averaged $15.2 million in total annual compensation, according to Forbes business magazine's annual executive pay survey. The top eight CEOs on the Forbes list each pocketed over $100 million. Stunning numbers like these have moved executive pay onto America's political radar screen. Read More

In order to influence the new laws that encompass the 25 countries of the European Union, now the world's largest single economy, some 15,000 lobbyists have flocked to Brussels, its political heart. The public relations firm Burson-Mastellar is one of the most active among them. Read More

Richard F. Scruggs, a Pascagoula lawyer who rose to prominence as he helped win a $250 billion settlement from the tobacco industry a few years ago, argues that in selling home insurance with many references to windstorms and hurricanes, Nationwide and other insurers led customers to believe that any hurricane damage - whether from wind or water - would be covered. Read More

The first story to tackle the issue of civilians fighting for their insurance payments, Adding Insult to Injury, appeared under my byline. Just one of many stories framed by me that set the tone for major news organizations to follow. Anytime you guys want to send a check or share some credit, please do. Read More

In Kearny, New Jersey, a 20-minute drive from Manhattan, a Wal-Mart-branded automated teller machine is reigniting fears among small banks that the world's largest retailer wants to drive them out of business. Read More

An analysis of 282 local executives at 109 area companies who have had the same title from 2003 until the end of 2005 showed that merely sticking around gives an executive an excellent chance of getting a raise, sometimes a big one. In many cases, raises are dictated by employment contracts or other compensation practices that have nothing to do with an executive's job performance and are often divorced from the kind of market logic that dictates how most people are paid. Read More

In yet another bizarre twist to the Enron saga, the sudden death of Kenneth L. Lay on Wednesday may have spared his survivors financial ruin. Mr. Lay's death effectively voids the guilty verdict against him, temporarily thwarting the federal government's efforts to seize his remaining real estate and financial assets, legal experts say. Read More

Nearly 440 letters, mostly complaints, have been sent to a U.S. banking regulator since Home Depot Inc. announced plans in early May to buy a home-improvement lender. Read More

Without enough money from their insurers to rebuild, homeowners are left with two choices: Give up and leave, or else rebuild by hand, using their savings to pay for labor and materials. Read More

Two Merrill Lynch executives convicted for their roles in a Nigerian barge deal that inflated Enron's profits have been ordered released from prison pending their appeal. Read More