business - "credit"

VALAD Property Group's rapid growth has been stopped dead by the credit crisis, with the fund manager and developer selling 40 per cent of its prized Gold Fields House overlooking Sydney Harbour and announcing that its distribution will fall 11 per cent short of guidance offered only three months ago.

DOUBTS surround the expansion plans of BankWest after Standard & Poor's warned it might downgrade the banks credit ratings.

BusinessWeek Online - Hardly anyone disagrees with this statement: The nation's tax system is a mess. The U.S. tax code is riddled with far too many deductions, credits, exemptions, exclusions, phase-ins, and phase-outs. Nobel laureate Milton Friedman noted half a century ago that constant changes in the tax code discourage long-term planning by households and businesses. He was right, but that hasn't stopped Democrats and Republicans from tinkering with taxes ever since the income tax was imposed in 1913.

Dexia SA will provide a credit line of $5 billion to help U.S. bond-insurance unit Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Sandler O'Neill Research on Monday released detailed predictions for several publicly traded banks in Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Washington. A group of Sandler analysts met with executives at eight banks including AmericanWest Bancorp. , Sterling financial corp. and Zions Bancorp. , and most execs expected further write-downs and pressure on banking stocks. 'Problem credits, and potentially charge-offs, would continue to grow over at least the near term,' said Sandler O'Neill managing director Tim O'Brien. 'Views on capital needs varied, with some admitting that dividend payments could be cut and others suggesting that payout levels are sustainable.'

Insurer offers credit facility to American bond insurer hit by liquidity concerns but does not allay fears.

Two firms with very different experiences of the credit crunch trim their workforce.

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether decades-old maternity leaves should count in determining pensions. The issue has split federal appeals courts and could become increasingly important as women who took maternity leaves in the 1960's and 70's...

Consumers continue to pay late on their credit cards and a few of the large banks are fighting back. Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo recently cut credit limits by...

The nations fourth largest credit union, BECU plans on launching the Firethorn mobile wallet application in the first quarter of 2009. By collaborating with Firethorn, BECU will enable its members to check their account balances, transfer funds and view and pay bills through their mobile devices...