US regulators say a group of firms that are not banks should be deemed potential threats to the financial system that need stricter government oversight.

Ulster Bank chief executive Jim Brown has firmly ruled out debt forgiveness in the range of options it will offer customers to solve the mortgage arrears crisis.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of US middle-market firms that currently sell and operate solely in North America do not intend to expand beyond the region in the next three years, a survey has revealed today.

General Electric’s lending arm hired Ralph Betz from Bank of Ireland to head leveraged finance in Germany as the company seeks to take market share from rivals hamstrung by the sovereign debt crisis.

General Electric Co topped Wall Street’s profit and revenue forecasts for the first quarter, helped by strong demand for energy equipment and railroad locomotives — after taking a $200m (€152.5m) hit on its Irish mortgage business

EARNINGS at General Electric climbed 11% in the third quarter as the finance unit’s gains blunted tighter profit margins in the energy business.

A FARMER was accused of playing ducks and drakes with the courts after it emerged he had failed to remove cattle from land due for repossession for four years.

GENERAL ELECTRIC posted second-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, buoyed by itsfinance unit, as the industrial order backlog rose to a record level.

FOUR orders for repossession were granted in the High Court yesterday.

SHANNON Development confirmed yesterday that the Shannon Free Zone recorded a net loss of 254 jobs last year.

A WOMAN who faces having her family home repossessed has criticised her mortgage provider for advancing her a 30-year loan for €250,000 when she was aged almost 50.

A COUPLE whose repossessed home was stripped clean by thieves have warned of measures needed to maintain and secure properties after courts hand them over to lenders.

A HEARTBROKEN couple whose bungalow was recently repossessed have described the horror of discovering their former home was ransacked and gutted.

American giant bookseller Borders filed for bankruptcy protection today.

WHAT’S happening to Ireland at present reminds me of a true, but ugly, story of the near collapse of an Irish corporate icon nearly 20 years ago.

PATRICIA and John Burnett are the real face of the repossession crisis facing Ireland’s debt-ridden home owners.

Fairfield, Connecticut: General Electric Co’s third-quarter profit declined 45% as the company scaled back property and consumer lending and sold fewer medical machines, leading to a steeper drop in sales than analysts projected.

The FTSE 100 Index dipped into negative territory today after poor earnings from US groups General Electric and Bank of America knocked investor confidence.

A FINANCE company has launched a legal battle against aircraft companyexecutives Philip de Vere Hunt and Pat Moloughney in a €9 million row.

Businessman David Dilger was today revealed as the new chairman of the State-owned Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

Wall Street found enough in the latest earnings reports to keep its six-week rally alive.

Investors' ambivalence about earnings reports left Wall Street with a mixed performance today.

Wall Street extended its losses today as a negative ratings outlook on financial and industrial powerhouse General Electric Co shook an already fragile investor psyche and sent stocks tumbling.

Wall Street advanced sharply today, boosted by news that Merrill Lynch will receive an investment of up to $6.2bn (€4.3bn) from two investment groups.

EMPLOYERS from across the mid-west will gather for a bigr business meeting in Shannon tomorrow amid concerns that the loss of Aer Lingus’s Heathrow link will cripple the regional economy.

WATERFORD Wedgwood's nightmare year has continued with first half sales and profits sliding further.

FINANCIAL services provider IFG announced yesterday that former GPA high flyer, Colm Barrington, has joined the board as a non executive director.

INTERNATIONAL financial giant GE Capital is to centralise its worldwide treasury operations in Dublin. The group said yesterday that GE Financial Markets will open an office in the city in the summer.

IFG Group has sold 50% of its mortgage business to GE Capital for €13.3m.

US financial-services companies plan to transfer 500,000 jobs out of the country, but Ireland is placed only ninth in a list of the top ten relocation countries.

London shares had a volatile session today, but managed to close ahead as retail stocks made gains.

The prospect of a downbeat start on Wall Street subdued trading across the London market today.

GE Capital said it will axe 7,000 workers in the US and overseas this year, out of an employee base of 90,000.

General Electric Co's shares were posting a modest gain in midsession trade as investors pondered the defense the company issued to counter a prominent bond fund manager's criticisms of its debt load, dealers said.

Xerox Corp has announced that it has raised more than $1bn through its convertible trust preferred securities offering.

Xerox, at a conference for investors today, has said that the outlook for the company is now more positive.

Thus is selling its ClubCall, RaceCall and WeatherCall phone services as part of a £3.5 million disposal.

General Electric, the world's largest company, has slipped into single digit growth for the first time in three years.

Cable operator NTL has confirmed it was in talks with US-based media giant AOL Time Warner about a European partnership.

AOL Time Warner, the world's biggest media company, is reportedly in talks with NTL, the UK's biggest cable operator, about a partnership in Europe.