AP - Facing a lawsuit over deceptive mortgage practices, Bank of America Corp. is agreeing to pay more than $8 billion to modify hundreds of thousands of loans to keep people from losing their homes.

AFP - Bank of America said Monday it was ready to spend up to 8.4 billion dollars to restructure the loan portfolio of mortgage giant Countrywide following settlement of a lawsuit targeting the firm's "predatory" lending practices.

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

AP - The Treasury Department has picked two financial institutions to manage a program it unveiled last month to provide support for beleaguered mortgage-backed securities.

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.