Briefcase

Goldman Sachs promises clients more transparency

NEW YORK – Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is promising to be more transparent about how it does business following widespread criticism that it put its own interests ahead of its clients.

In a report released Tuesday, the New York investment bank said it would begin disclosing more information about how it makes money and ensure that its business practices put the interests of its clients first.

It’s a bid to placate wary clients and quell public anger against the firm, which is known for paying large bonuses. Goldman agreed to reform its business practices as part of a $550 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in July.

Goldman said the 63-page report is the result of an eight-month internal review that began after Goldman was accused of misleading clients about complex mortgage investments.

Associated Press

Wholesale inventories drop

WASHINGTON – Businesses at the wholesale level trimmed their stockpiles in November for the first time in nearly a year, but the decline likely reflected their inability to keep up with strong gains in sales.

The Commerce Department says wholesale inventories dipped 0.2 percent in November, the first decline since December 2009. Sales rose 1.9 percent after a 2.6 percent surge in October – the largest monthly gain since March.

Private economists said the small drop in inventories was not worrisome because it probably reflected an inability of companies to keep up with unexpectedly strong sales demand.

Associated Press

Schwab settles over bond fund

WASHINGTON – Charles Schwab Corp. on Tuesday agreed to pay $118.9 million to settle federal regulators’ civil charges over disclosure of the risks of a short-term bond fund.

The company called the steep decline of the YieldPlus Fund the result “of an unprecedented and unforeseeable credit crisis and market collapse” in 2007 and 2008.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement with two Schwab units, Charles Schwab Investment Management and Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. The agency said Schwab marketed the fund as a conservative investment only slightly riskier than a money-market fund even though half its assets were invested in high-risk securities.

The Schwab units neither admitted nor denied the allegations.

Associated Press

MySpace cuts 500 workers

LOS ANGELES – Struggling entertainment site MySpace said Tuesday that it is cutting nearly half of its staff worldwide, or about 500 people, after an extensive revamp in October overhauled its look and allowed it to be run with fewer people.

Mike Jones, the chief executive of MySpace, said cuts are “tough but necessary” and would put the site on a path to profitability while making it more nimble and entrepreneurial.

MySpace declined to say how much the cuts would save. A previous round of cuts in June 2009 eliminated 30 percent of its work force, or about 420 jobs.

The relaunch focused MySpace on giving its users, mostly aged 13 to 34, more ways to consume music, videos and celebrity gossip. Before, MySpace tried to be an all-purpose social networking site like Facebook. MySpace recently said it is no longer trying to compete with Facebook.

Associated Press