Reuters - American International Group Inc, plans to sell its three Japanese life insurance businesses, an AIG spokesman said on Saturday, in sale Japanese media estimated could top $9.5 billion.

AFP - Germany's Allianz Group and other major insurers are considering buying American International Group's three life insurance units in Japan, news reports said Saturday.

Reuters - Insurer American International Group Inc , crippled by losses on bad mortgage bets, said on Friday it will focus on its core insurance operation and put the rest of its businesses up for sale to repay up to $85 billion borrowed from the U.S. government.

AFP - Swiss banking giant UBS on Thursday said it would swing into profit in the third quarter, as it seeks to regain client trust after successive quarters of losses on massive asset writedowns.

AP - Rates on 30-year mortgages have risen for a second straight week, climbing to the highest level in a month.

AFP - Switzerland's biggest bank UBS, one of the worst-hit by the subprime crisis, said Thursday it expects a small profit for the third quarter after sharply cutting its US mortgage-related positions.

Reuters - Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays Plc , retained its spot as top underwriter in the $3 trillion federal agency debt markets in 2008 year-to-date from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters.

AP - Adding to their woes, mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are facing a federal grand jury investigation into their accounting practices.

Reuters - Stocks plunged on Monday in their biggest decline ever after U.S. lawmakers unexpectedly rejected a $700 billion financial bailout, spooking investors who fear for the future of global markets and the U.S. economy.

AP - Adding to their woes, mortgage finance giants Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac are facing a federal grand jury investigation into their accounting practices.