Latest Financial services News

Alaska Airlines will spread its wings by flying to Tokyo and Seoul beginning next year

Dec. 10, 2024 12:15 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Alaska Airlines said Tuesday it will start new service to Tokyo and Seoul next year as part of a plan to boost international flights over the next several years. Alaska announced the new routes Tuesday as it raised its fourth-quarter outlook and publicized a plan to...

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to pay $15M penalty to settle SEC charges

Dec. 10, 2024 11:09 AM EST

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney will pay a $15 million penalty as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission related to four financial advisers who stole millions of dollars of advisory clients’ and brokerage customers’ funds. The settlement announced late...

UnitedHealthcare CEO's shooting opens a door for many to vent frustrations over insurance

Dec. 07, 2024 11:24 AM EST

For years, patients in the U.S. health care system have grown frustrated with a bureaucracy they don’t understand. Doctors are included in an insurer’s network one year but not the next. Getting someone on the phone to help can be next to impossible. Coverage of care and...

Chipotle is raising US prices after promising bigger portions

Dec. 06, 2024 13:17 PM EST

Chipotle is raising its U.S. prices to offset inflation and to compensate for a promise to increase portion sizes. Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs officer, Laurie Schalow, confirmed Friday that the Mexican restaurant chain was implementing a 2% price increase nationally. Schalow...

Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO spotlights complex challenge companies face in protecting top brass

Dec. 06, 2024 12:33 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — He’s one of the most famous corporate leaders in the world, delivering products embraced by billions. But it’s the haters that companies like Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta worry about. In an era when online anger and social tensions are increasingly directed at the...

Why Trump and the Federal Reserve could clash in the coming years

Dec. 05, 2024 07:16 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on the promise that his policies would reduce high borrowing costs and lighten the financial burden on American households. But what if, as many economists expect, interest rates remain elevated, well above their...

Afghan economy shows modest signs of growth but recovery remains fragile, says World Bank

Dec. 04, 2024 23:45 PM EST

Afghanistan’s economy is showing modest signs of growth after two years of severe contraction, the World Bank said. In its latest development update issued late Wednesday, the financial institution said modest GDP growth of 2.7% was driven by private consumption. The partial...

Powell: Fed's independence from politics is vital to its interest rate decisions

Dec. 04, 2024 15:46 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the Federal Reserve's ability to set interest rates free of political interference is necessary for it to make decisions to serve “all Americans” rather than a political party or political outcome. Speaking at the New...

BlackRock buying credit investment manager HPS Investment Partners in approximately $12 billion deal

Dec. 03, 2024 07:56 AM EST

BlackRock is buying credit investment manager HPS Investment Partners in a stock deal valued at about $12 billion, giving it more ways to service its insurance clients. BlackRock said Tuesday that the transaction includes equity issued by a subsidiary, and that the equity can be...

Head of Ohio's teacher pension fund retires Sunday, saying fund is strong despite staff vacancies

Nov. 29, 2024 15:50 PM EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The outgoing head of Ohio's troubled teachers retirement system said that she is leaving the fund in strong fiscal condition, despite the turmoil at the top that her successor will inherit. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Acting Executive...