EU Lays Groundwork for Antitrust Charges Against Google

Europe's competition regulator is said to be laying the groundwork to move against Google in the next few weeks, setting the stage for charges against the U.S. search giant in a five-year-old antitrust investigation.

Playtech Buys TradeFX for up to EUR458M

Online gambling technology group Playtech announced a move into financial derivatives trading with the acquisition of trading platform provider TradeFX..

Marks & Spencer Reports Sales Rise

UK retailer Marks & Spencer reported a rise in fourth quarter sales, saying its food business outperformed the market and its general merchandise performance improved.

HSBC Monitor Says Compliance Progress Too Slow

A U.S. independent monitor said HSBC is moving too slowly to fix some of its compliance problems, a tough assessment that comes as the bank is grappling with other issues, including allegations it aided tax evasion.

Kraft, Mondelez Accused of Manipulating Wheat Markets

Kraft Foods Group and Mondelez International were charged with manipulating and trying to manipulate the prices of cash wheat and wheat futures by the regulator of those markets.

Country Garden to Sell Stake to Ping An Insurance

Country Garden Holdings will sell a 9.9% stake to a unit of Ping An Insurance of China, raising $813 million to fund its property projects.

Bank of Jinzhou Plans To Raise $600 Mln in IPO

Bank of Jinzhou, a city commercial lender in northeast China, is planning to raise about US$600 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering in June, a person familiar with the situation said.

Shengjing Bank to Buy Stake in Huaxin Trust

Shengjing Bank agreed to buy a 20% stake in Huaxin Trust from Huaxin Huiton Group $512 million.

Line Refiles Paperwork for IPO

Line, the Japanese operator of a popular smartphone messaging application, has refiled for a possible initial public offering on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but has no immediate plans for a listing, according to a spokeswoman for its South Korean parent company.

RadioShack to Debut Stores Under New Ownership

After a brush with liquidation last week, a reincarnated version of the chain will debut later in April under the ownership of hedge fund Standard General with an assist from Sprint.

KBR Charged With Violating Whistleblower Protection Rule

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement with KBR over allegations it used employment agreements that could have muzzled whistleblowers, a move that marks the agency's first-ever enforcement action of this kind.

Allegiant Travel Pilots Vow to Strike Thursday

Pilots at Allegiant Travel said they plan to strike on Thursday, despite management and government officials saying they lack legal authority to do so--a sudden and dramatic escalation of a running labor battle at the small discount airline.

Bradken Rejects Takeover Bid

U.S. trading house Koch Industries has teamed up with private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners to bid $313.6 million for Australian engineering equipment maker Bradken.