CA-BUSINESS Summary

SAC may cut staff, offices as probe pushes investors away

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Steven A. Cohen's embattled hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors is facing a much tougher and less glamorous future, as outside investors pull the bulk of their money from the firm in the wake of an ongoing insider trading probe. The billionaire trader, who founded SAC in 1992, will have to consider shedding staff, shuttering offices and scaling back some of its trading - something that could cost Wall Street firms hundreds of millions of dollars a year in trading commissions, industry experts said.

Bank of America $8.5 billion mortgage settlement case opens

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's proposed $8.5 billion settlement with investors in mortgage securities that went bad during the financial crisis offers billions more than they are likely to get if they go to trial, a lawyer for the trustee who helped negotiate the deal argued Monday. Matthew Ingber, a lawyer for Bank of New York Mellon, the trustee overseeing the securities, made the case for the deal as a long-awaiting proceeding for approval of the settlement got underway in state court in New York.

Data pulls TSX lower as energy shares, banks slip

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slipped to its lowest in more than two weeks on Monday after sluggish data raised concerns about half of the global economic recovery and caused declines in the energy and financial sectors. Weakness in Canadian Natural Resources Ltd , following a downgrade of the stock by Goldman Sachs, also weighed on the market.

In e-books trial, U.S. says Apple conspired with publishers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc conspired with publishers to raise the price of e-books in a scheme costing consumers "hundreds of millions of dollars," a U.S. government lawyer said on Monday. A three-week trial got under way before a federal judge in New York in a case pitting the Justice Department against the popular iPad and iPhone maker that could shine a light on the secretive Silicon Valley giant's business practices.

Regulators propose new oversight of AIG, Prudential

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regulators on Monday proposed designating non-bank financial companies including American International Group and Prudential Financial for heightened regulatory oversight. A group of regulators known as the Financial Stability Oversight Council said it had voted to propose dubbing certain companies "systemically important," or so big their failure could destabilize financial markets, in a long-anticipated and controversial move aimed at cracking down on risks.

Detroit carmakers lead Canadian sales, Toyota not far behind

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian auto sales rose 5.3 percent in May, marking a slowdown from April, but far outpacing the lackluster 2.4 percent year-to-date growth, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. Across Canada, 185,040 vehicles were sold last month, just shy of the record set in May 2007 when 185,471 cars and trucks were sold, according to the independent auto analyst who compiles auto sales data.

Rajaratnam's brother in plea talks over insider charges

(Reuters) - Rengan Rajaratnam, the younger brother of imprisoned hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, is negotiating with prosecutors on a possible resolution to his criminal insider trading case, including a possible plea, a court filing shows. U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan agreed to delay a scheduled conference to July 30 from June 4, which federal prosecutors in a May 30 letter said would "permit the defendant and the government to continue discussions that may lead to the resolution of this case before trial."

Insight: IRS has long history of burying non-profits in paperwork

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Internal Revenue Service staff have a long history of discouraging applications for tax-exempt status from controversial groups by burying them in complicated questionnaires, according to former IRS officials. Among other reasons, they said, the tactic was sometimes used to persuade groups to drop their applications so the IRS could avoid making a ruling. This approach - allegedly used in the recent IRS targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups - has been around for decades, the officials said, citing lengthy questionnaires sent to applicants including religious and gay-rights organizations and a children's summer camp group that promotes atheist thinking.

Zynga slashes work force by a fifth, shares dive

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zynga Inc announced on Monday its biggest ever round of layoffs and warned of weak bookings for the current quarter, raising doubts about the social game developer's attempt at a recovery. Zynga said it will cut about 520 jobs, or roughly one-fifth of its work force, and close some offices in the United States.

New rule lets Canadians cancel wireless contracts after two years

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadians will be able to cancel their cellphone contracts after two years without penalty, instead of the three years that is the industry standard now, under a mandatory wireless code announced by the country's telecom watchdog on Monday. Critics have long held that Canada's three providers that have almost the entire market, BCE Inc , Rogers Communications Inc and Telus Corp , impose customer contracts that are too stringent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-025217697.html

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