BUSINESS BRIEFS
Hearings urged on bank buyout of Countrywide
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — A consumer advocacy group wants banking regulators to hold public hearings in California on Bank of America Corp.'s proposed acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp.
The Greenlining Institute said yesterday it sent a letter outlining its request to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The group says it supports the buyout but wants homeowners in California to be able to voice their opinions on the deal.
The institute has asked Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis to meet with community groups and lay out plans to aid homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
Bank of America did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America agreed in January to acquire Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide for about $4 billion in stock.
GAO PROBING FDA DRUG REVIEW
WASHINGTON — The government's watchdog agency is investigating whether the Food and Drug Administration's drug-review process cleared two blockbuster medications without sufficient proof of their safety or effectiveness.
Sen. Charles Grassley said yesterday the Government Accountability Office has agreed to study a much-debated method for approving drugs used to clear GlaxoSmithKline PLC's diabetes pill Avandia and Merck & Co. Inc. and Schering-Plough's cholesterol drug Vytorin.
Grassley, R-Iowa, requested the investigation after recent studies suggested the drugs may not lower the risk of heart attack and artery-clogging plaque, as assumed by millions of patients and doctors.
OPEC UNLIKELY TO HIKE PRODUCTION
VIENNA, Austria — OPEC will likely leave output unchanged even as oil prices reach record highs, key ministers said yesterday, eliciting a rebuke from President Bush.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is shying away from higher production, which could bring down prices, due to political turmoil in the Middle East and U.S. economic weakness that may soon reduce demand globally, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said as ministers gathered ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna today.
"Because of the economic slowdown in the United States — which is affecting world economic growth and world demand on oil this year — I don't think OPEC will consider increasing its production," Khelil told reporters.
Bush was critical, suggesting a lack of production may induce an economic downturn.
"Understand the consequences of high energy prices," he said after meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan in the Oval Office.
CITI WARNED TO RAISE MORE CASH
NEW YORK — Citigroup shares sank to their lowest level in more than nine years as stockholders recoiled at forecasts of more losses at the troubled bank and comments from a Middle East fund executive that Citi must raise more cash to stay in business.
Samir al-Ansari, chief executive of the $13 billion government-owned investment firm Dubai International Capital, said yesterday at a private equity conference that it will take more than the combined efforts of the Gulf's wealthiest investors — the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Kuwait Investment Authority and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal — to save Citigroup.
TOYOTA LOSING 9 U.S. EXECUTIVES
NEW YORK — Toyota Motor Corp. said yesterday that nine of its U.S. executives plan to retire by the end of the year, sparking speculation that the automaker may be looking to revamp its executive lineup in the midst of an increasingly tough U.S. sales environment.
The retiring executives include Dave Illingworth, senior vice president and chief administrative officer for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.
