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BNP Paribas, for the second time in nine days, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions, as part of a nearly $9 billion settlement in which the French bank admitted to breaking embargoes against Sudan, Cuba and Iran. Prosecutors had accused the bank of processing billions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on behalf of the Sudanese and others barred because of human rights abuses, support for terrorists and other national security concerns. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield accepted the plea at a hearing in Manhattan federal court. The plea was entered by the bank's general counsel, Georges Dirani. BNP Paribas admitted to having conspired from 2004 to 2012 to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act. The U.S. Justice Department unveiled the record settlement on July 1, when the bank pleaded guilty in New York state court to charges of falsifying business records and conspiracy brought by

Struggling apparel and accessories retailer American Apparel Inc said on Wednesday it has reached a deal with hedge fund Standard General LP and founder Dov Charney to remake its board and bolster its finances. _0"> As part of the deal, American Apparel gave Standard General, three seats on its seven-member and received a $25 million loan from the shareholder, which could help it tide over a rough financial patch. The retailer said five of its board members, including Charney, would step down and Standard General would nominate three new members, while the company and the shareholder would jointly pick the other two. Co-chairmen Allan Mayer and David Danziger would continue to lead the board, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Charney was ousted from the company for alleged misuse of corporate funds and his role in disseminating nude photos of an ex-employee. He is currently under investigation and, as part of the deal, will not

Apple Inc acknowledged on Wednesday it needs to address manufacturing partners' carbon emissions and its own rising water consumption, though the iPhone maker said it had cut back sharply on greenhouse gas output. _0"> Apple last year hired former Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson to push cleaner initiatives, amid past criticism over its emissions and use of toxic materials. Observers say it has improved its practices and earned better scores from groups such as Greenpeace. On Wednesday, Apple released its 2014 environmental responsibility report, saying investments in renewable energy helped slash its carbon footprint from energy use by 31 percent from fiscal 2011 to fiscal 2013. That's despite power consumption soaring 44 percent over the same period. ( here ) But the company, which is building its future main campus not far from its current base in Silicon Valley, said water usage had spiked as a result of general construction and expansion. It

U.S. emerging market fund managers are paying less attention to where a company is located or listed than to whether it's making money, either as an advanced world company doing business in the developing world, or the other way around. A top holding in the $710 million Ivy Emerging Markets Equity Fund, the best performing diversified emerging market fund over the last five years, is Las Vegas Sands Corp, the U.S.-based casino operator that generates most of its revenue in Macao. The No. 2 holding in the $2.8 billion GMO Emerging Domestic Opportunities Fund is Colgate-Palmolive Co, based in New York but the maker of the best-selling toothpaste in India. And the $25 billion American Funds New World Fund is betting on a U.S. housing recovery by investing in Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries Co Ltd, which sells power tools through Home Depot Inc, its largest customer. "It's a new geography," said Rob Lovelace, a portfolio manager for the American Funds New Worl

JPMorgan Chase & Co ( id="symbol_JPM.N_0"> JPM.N ) said it has hired former UBS AG ( id="symbol_UBSN.VX UBSN.VX ) banker David Li as its new China head, reinforcing its investment banking clout in the world's second-largest economy after the departure of top China banker Fang Fang in March. _0"> Li will oversee all of JPMorgan's businesses in China, including the investment banking division that Fang ran. Li will report to Nicolas Aguzin, chairman and CEO for Asia-Pacific operations, the U.S. bank said on Thursday. _1"> Fang, JPMorgan's chief executive for China investment banking, left the firm in March, amid a probe of JPMorgan hiring practices in Asia. Li was most recently chairman and country head for China at UBS. He will start at JPMorgan in October, the bank said in a press release. Li is the second top China banker to leave UBS in the last month. Managing director and head of China mergers Philip Partnow left the firm on J

Japan's machinery orders tumbled by a record margin in May, dashing hopes for a bounce and casting doubt over a scenario of investment-led recovery in the world's third-largest economy. The data are highly volatile, but serve as an indicator of capital spending in six to nine months and May's shocking 19.5 percent slump raised questions about the economy's ability to tide over a dent in consumption caused by an April 1 sales tax hike. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a modest 0.7 percent rise. One explanation for the nasty surprise was that companies rushed to take advantage of new tax incentives introduced in January before the end of last financial year in March, instead of spreading spending more evenly. That flattered January-March capital spending and led to a slump in April and May. "This shows the huge spike in capital spending in January-March was just an aberration," said Yasutoshi Nagai, chief economist at Daiwa Securities. "Som

China's trade performance improved in June but still missed market forecasts, reinforcing expectations that Beijing will have to unveil more stimulus measures to stabilize the economy and meet its 2014 growth target. Exports rose 7.2 percent in June from a year earlier, the best pace in five months, but well below a median forecast in a Reuters poll for a rise of 10.6 percent. Imports also missed expectations, growing by 5.5 percent versus forecasts of 5.8 percent, although they returned to positive territory after a small drop in May. China's combined exports and imports edged up just 1.2 percent in first six months of the year, data showed on Thursday. "For the economy to rebound in the second half of this year, we believe more policy support is necessary due to the unsteady recovery base," said Wang Jun, economist at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, a think-tank in Beijing. Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday that economic growth quick

A surge of Republican pressure is bringing the Federal Reserve's long-held independence into question again, as conservative lawmakers seek to place the U.S. central bank under tougher scrutiny. With Democrats controlling the Senate since the 2008 financial crisis, the bank and its supporters have had the luxury of shrugging off Fed-related laws from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. But a Republican takeover of the Senate in November's midterm elections would increase the chances of some of those measures hitting the Senate floor, and changing the way the Fed functions. Two Republican congressmen proposed a new bill on Monday that would force the Fed to disclose information it has historically kept private. That bill will be discussed at a hearing on Thursday by the House Financial Services Committee, which is convening a panel to discuss reforming the Fed. "I think there's a chance of legislation that affects us," Richmond Fed President J

Russian state companies, the backbone of the economy, can only have accounts at banks with capital of no less than 10 billion rubles ($296 million) or at those with ties to the government, a senior finance ministry official said on Thursday. The move, under discussion since June, is aimed at protecting some of Russia's largest companies from an economic downturn, worsened by Western sanctions over Ukraine, and to protect depositors in the case banks lose their licenses. Earlier, Russia's central bank had been discussing a requirement that state companies would only be allowed to have accounts at banks with capital of over 16.5 billion rubles ($480 million). But Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev told Reuters that the central bank and the Finance Ministry had now agreed that state companies will be allowed to have accounts at banks with capital of a lower amount - no less than 10 billion rubles. "Banks must meet one of three criteria - their capital must be no les

European shares were back in negative territory on Thursday, a brief lift from U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes proving short-lived as investors worried whether markets could go it alone without the U.S. central bank's emergency support. Faith in a rally in share prices dating back almost three years has more shaky over the past month than for some time, as the Fed nears what looks like a definitive end to its program of new money-printing. The minutes from the U.S. central bank's last meeting, published after European markets had closed on Wednesday, offered no sign it was any closer to following that with a swift rise in official interest rates to cool the economy. That boosted U.S. and Asian markets overnight. But the dominant concern at the European open was over companies' results and the economy's ability to survive without the new funds which the Fed's bond-buying has forced into the system every month. Norway's largest bank DNB added to an inau

Boeing Co made its most bullish 20-year forecast for jetliner demand since 2011, saying on Thursday the world will need 36,770 new planes worth $5.2 trillion by 2033. The company's annual projection is up 4.2 percent from its 2013 forecast, and it predicted beating rival Airbus Group NV in the lucrative market for twin-aisle planes as the planes are built and delivered over the next two decades. "If Airbus doesn't do something with their product strategy, they're headed to 30-35 percent market share" in deliveries of next-generation twin-aisle aircraft, Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president of marketing, told reporters in a briefing. Boeing's 787 and 777X jets already make up 65 percent of all current orders, with the Airbus A350 accounting for the rest, and that gap will widen unless Airbus develops another jet as a competitor, he said. Planes are delivered years after orders are placed, so the final numbers may change as airlines change their plan

German lender Commerzbank AG is expected to pay between $600 million and $800 million to resolve investigations into its dealings with Iran and other countries under U.S. sanctions, sources familiar with the matter said. The penalty, previously reported to be more than $500 million, includes a demand from New York's top banking regulator, Benjamin Lawsky, for more than $300 million from the bank, the sources said. Other U.S. authorities, including the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Manhattan District Attorney, are also involved in the talks. Among the violations being investigated are Commerzbank's transactions for the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, one of the sources said. The state-sponsored shipping company was designated for economic sanctions by the United States in 2008 for allegedly supporting Iran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The source said Commerzbank was alleged to have done business

A planned merger of the Dubai Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) has been shelved for the foreseeable future as terms for the politically sensitive move could not be agreed, sources told Reuters on Thursday. Having been mooted for a number of years, a merger of the DFM and the ADX seemed to take an important step closer last year as investment banks were hired to advise on a tie-up - a move revealed by Reuters last October. The state-backed deal, seen as one of the biggest changes in the country's financial industry in recent years, was expected to energize financial markets in the United Arab Emirates, making it easier for investors to operate across the markets, stimulating trade and attracting more foreign investment. However, despite a number of key impediments being overcome since then, talks have stalled and a deal is now unlikely to happen any time soon. "It's been shelved," said one Abu Dhabi-based banking source aware of the ma

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Friday, though recent weakness was enough to put the Dow and S&P 500 on track for their first weekly decline after three consecutive weeks of gains. * While both the Dow and S&P hit a series of record highs this week, Wall Street has lately been pressured by concerns of slowing global growth and ongoing violence in Iraq, which has taken oil prices to their highest since September. * The S&P has fallen for three straight days, its longest streak of declines since early April. However, it has dropped just 1.1 percent over that period, and many view the market's recent trend upward as intact. * Technology shares will be in focus a day after Intel Corp raised its full-year revenue outlook, citing stronger-than-expected demand for personal computers used by businesses. Shares of the Dow component rose 4.7 percent to $29.27 in premarket trading. * Another positive catalyst may come at 9:55 a.m. EDT (1355 GMT), with the pre

Theme lunches, giant TVs and viewing parties. Silicon Valley may be far from the World Cup in Brazil but tech employees are getting in on the globe's most prestigious soccer event. Twitter, LinkedIn and Nvidia are among several tech companies airing matches in their offices during the next month and encouraging employees to follow the action. The World Cup has made inroads in the United States, although employees at many companies must be circumspect about getting their fix. But some tech companies, famous for giving their engineers everything from gourmet food to on-site hairdressers, World Cup fever's penetration is reminiscent of Latin America or Europe, where the tournament captivates the public. Redwood City's Evernote, which makes note-taking software, dished up traditional Brazilian Feijoada meat stew and bolo de fuba cornmeal cake for lunch while Thursday's opening match between Brazil and Croatia played on projector TVs. As the tournament progresses, with

British construction output grew faster than previously thought in the first quarter, new figures showed on Friday, but could slow in the next three months, particularly after the government took steps to cool the housing market. Finance minister George Osborne said on Thursday that he would give the Bank of England stronger powers to curb mortgage lending, while BoE Governor Mark Carney said interest rates could rise sooner than financial markets expect. The comments sent sterling and short-dated British government bond yields soaring and caused shares to plunge, with housebuilders particularly hard hit. Some 1.7 billion pounds ($2.85 billion) has been wiped off the value of the six housebuilders and two property groups. Economists say Osborne's announcement means the Bank may adopt a more direct approach when trying to curb mortgage lending. It is expected to announce more controls after its Financial Policy Committee meeting next week. The moves should help take some heat o

Porsche will return to the Le Mans sports car race for the first time in 16 years on Saturday, intensifying its rivalry with Volkswagen stablemate Audi and putting the parent company's fondness for internal competition to the test. Volkswagen (VW), Europe's biggest carmaker with vehicles ranging from trucks and cheap Skodas to high-end sports cars, is widely viewed by industry analysts as the model for how to manage a variety of brands within a single group. But with Audi striving to maintain its challenge to world No. 1 luxury carmaker BMW, some are questioning whether now is the right time to instigate a new battle with its sports car sibling. Putting two teams into the 24-hour Le Mans race on June 14-15, one of the greatest tests of endurance for cars and drivers, could cost VW as much as 50 million euros ($68 million), a company source told Reuters, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. What's more, it risks exacerbating tensions that are

Investors braced on Friday for a UK interest rate hike later this year, pushing sterling to five-year highs and hurting property stocks, after the head of the Bank of England said rates may rise sooner than markets predict. Governor Mark Carney's surprisingly stark warning late on Thursday prompted investors to bring forward expectations for a first BoE rate hike by nearly four months, to December from the first quarter of 2015. Sterling's trade-weighted index posted its biggest one-day rise in four months, hitting 5 1/2-year highs. Short-dated UK government bond yields were on track for their biggest daily gain in more than three years. A rate hike by the end of 2014 is likely to come at least six months before the U.S. Federal Reserve tightens policy. It would contrast sharply with the European Central Bank, which cut rates last week and is likely to ease policy in the coming months. "The BoE seems to be slightly ahead of the Fed as far as rate hikes are concerned,&

General Motors Co recalled 511,528 Chevrolet Camaros on Friday for an ignition switch problem similar to the defect linked to at least 13 deaths in Chevrolet Cobalts and other models. GM said it was aware of minor accidents but no fatalities from the Camaro, a sporty two-door car. It said the Camaro switch defect differed from the problem in the Cobalts, but a consumer advocate said GM still should have recalled the Camaros sooner. GM said a driver's knee could bump the Camaro key fob and move the ignition switch out of the "run" position, causing the engine to shut off. The earlier recall of Cobalts and other small cars involved an ignition switch in which a bump of the key fob could turn off the engine, disabling power steering and airbags. That defect, first observed by GM engineers in 2002, was not reported to consumers for years. Chief Executive Mary Barra in recent months overhauled the way GM handles safety recalls. The Camaro recall bloats the number of GM v

Ukrainian forces surrounded the rebel-held port city of Mariupol in fighting with pro-Russian separatists after launching a dawn attack on Friday, the country's interior minister said on his Facebook page. _0"> The rebel forces, who oppose the pro-European leadership in the capital Kiev, confirmed fighting was under way and said five of their number had been killed. Mariupol is Ukraine's largest Azov Sea port, and is important for steel exports. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

China's crude steel output hit a record of 70.43 million tonnes in May, up 2.6 percent from a year ago, government data showed on Friday, as steel mills in the world's biggest producer looked to meet strong demand. Steel demand in China traditionally improves in the second quarter as construction activity picks up along with warmer weather, but the slowing economy and weak property sector is expected to curb demand growth and push mills to cut output in coming months. May's output rose 2.3 percent from April and trumped the previous record of 70.25 million tonnes hit in March. Output for the first five months of the year rose 2.7 percent to 342.52 million tonnes from the same period last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. The average daily crude steel output fell to 2.272 million tonnes in May from a record 2.295 million tonnes seen in April. It has stood above 2.20 million tonnes so far this year. A rapid fall in iron ore prices .IO62-CNI=SI, wh

Petra Diamonds Ltd said it had recovered an "exceptional" 122.52 carat blue diamond at its Cullinan mine in South Africa, just months after it sold a 29.6 carat blue diamond from the same mine for more than $25 million. _0"> "The rarity of a blue diamond of this magnitude sets it apart as a truly significant find," the company said in a statement. Shares in the diamond miner rose almost 7 percent to a year high in early trading, making them the top percentage gainers on the FTSE-250 Midcap Index. Petra, which acquired the famed diamond mine in 2008, said it would evaluate the optimal route to market for the stone after a further analysis to assess its potential value. "So far, the highest price on record paid for a rough diamond was $35.3 million, paid in February 2010 for a 507 carat white stone, also recovered from Cullinan. We think that this stone may break that record," finnCap analyst Martin Potts said. The Cullinan mine boasts the lar

Ukrainian forces regained control of the port of Mariupol on Friday, raising the national flag over the southeastern city's main administrative building, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said. _0"> "At 10:34 a.m. (0734 GMT) the Ukrainian flag was raised over City Hall in Mariupol," he wrote on Facebook after Ukrainian forces attacked the city as part of a broader military operation to reclaim territory seized by pro-Russian separatists. There was no immediate comment by the rebels on his remarks. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Indonesian government officials met with major foreign copper miners on Friday, with the chief economics minister hoping a quick deal can be reached to overcome a controversial tax that has halted concentrate exports for five months. Richard Adkerson, the CEO of Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc and Newmont Mining Corp CEO Gary Goldberg are in the capital Jakarta, signalling a fresh effort to reach a settlement over the export tax that the miners say they should not have to pay. The tax is part of a government drive to force miners to build smelters and processing plants in Southeast Asia's largest economy, but a lack of progress in resolving the dispute has led Newmont to declare force majeure and Freeport to slash output. "We hope this happens quickly, everyone wants it to happen quickly," said chief economics minister and billionaire businessman Chairul Tanjung, who is spearheading a new government push aimed at brokering a deal. Asked about a possible timefr

North-Sea focused oil producer EnQuest has agreed to take over ExxonMobil's share in the Malaysian Seligi oil field, expanding its production portfolio outside of its core UK market. Upon completion of the deal, which is subject to regulator approval, EnQuest will become operator of the field and own 50 percent alongside Malaysian state-owned oil company Petronas. "We continue to look at the UK as our major hub, but because of these movements of companies back to North America we're seeing opportunities specifically in places like Malaysia," said EnQuest chief executive Amjad Bseisu. His company specialises in maximising oil output from old fields by applying new technology that allows it to retrieve oil that is typically hard to reach. As large oil majors look to divest late-life assets that have seen a decline in output, EnQuest sees an opportunity in snapping up old fields where it can apply its expertise. The Seligi oil field, EnQuest's third Malaysian

EU energy ministers agreed a deal on Friday to limit production of biofuels made from food crops, responding to criticism these stoke inflation and do more environmental harm than good. The ministers' endorsement of a new compromise overcomes a stalemate hit late last year when European Union governments failed to agree on a proposed 5 percent cap on the use of biofuels based on crops such as maize or rapeseed. Friday's deal would set a 7 percent limit on the use of food-based biofuels in transport fuel. The new deal must now be considered by the newly-elected European Parliament. "We think this proposal is much better than nothing," European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told the Luxembourg meeting of ministers. "We need to support research and development in advanced biofuels so we can move forward from generation one into generation two and generation three," he added, referring to more sophisticated biofuels which do not compete with growi

A rare 122.52-carat blue diamond found in South Africa could fetch more than $35 million for a London-listed mining company. Only three or four blue diamonds over 100 carats have ever been recovered, according to Cathy Mallins, corporate communications manager at Petra Diamonds Ltd. So far, the highest price on record for a rough diamond is $35.3 million, paid in February 2010 for a 507-carat white stone recovered from the same mine, finnCap analyst Martin Potts said in a research note. "We think that this stone may break that record," he said. Both diamonds were recovered from the Cullinan mine, the source of many large diamonds, including the largest rough gem diamond ever recovered - the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond found in 1905. That diamond was cut into two stones that are part of Britain's Crown Jewels held in the Tower of London. Petra's shares rose as much as 7 percent on Friday, making them the top percentage gainer on the FTSE-250 Midcap Index . Pet

The leader of South Africa's AMCU union said on Friday a wage deal with the top three platinum producers was imminent, signalling a possible end to a crippling five-month strike that has disrupted global output of the metal. Workers from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) begged leader Joseph Mathunjwa on Thursday to end the country's longest mining strike and sign the latest offer - an increase of about 20 percent, or 1,000 rand ($93) a month. Mathunjwa told Johannesburg radio he would take the offer to more AMCU members at mines on Friday, before meeting with management at Lonmin , Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum later or over the weekend to relay the response of his miners to their offer. "At least there is light at the end of the tunnel, which is not the light of a goods train," he told Talk Radio 702. The main outstanding sticking point was whether the wage deal should stretch over three or five years, he said. "W

The U.S. economic recovery should accelerate in coming months as an energy boom, steadily falling unemployment and a rebound in investment push growth to its fastest pace in a decade, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Friday. In its latest overview of the U.S. economy, the Paris-based group said U.S. gross domestic product would expand 2.5 percent this year, a touch below a forecast it released last month. But it maintained its 3.5 percent growth projection for next year, which would be the strongest advance since 2004. The OECD is more optimistic on U.S. growth than most private forecasters and some other international organizations, including the World Bank, which looks for growth in 2015 of only 3.0 percent. The OECD said it saw several positive trends converging to make the recovery faster, more entrenched and more driven by private demand. Low energy prices and continued low borrowing costs, coupled with record corporate stores of cash, shoul

* Toronto stock index falls 2.94 points or 0.02 percent to 14,906.23 _0"> at open

U.S. stock edged higher at the open on Friday as some positive corporate news supported markets, though ongoing violence in Iraq limited the gains. _0"> The Dow Jones industrial average rose 18.72 points, or 0.11 percent, to 16,752.91, the S&P 500 gained 2.71 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,932.82 and the Nasdaq Composite added 14.52 points, or 0.34 percent, to 4,312.15. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak ; Editing by Bernadette Baum )

Stock funds worldwide attracted $11.4 billion in the week ended June 11, marking the biggest inflows into the funds since February, data from a Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research report showed on Friday. _0"> Emerging market equity funds attracted $2.3 billion in new cash, marking their biggest inflows in nine weeks, according to the report, which also cited data from fund-tracker EPFR Global. U.S.-focused stock funds attracted $5.1 billion, up from inflows of $1.2 billion over the prior week. Bond funds attracted $1.6 billion in inflows, marking their smallest inflows in three months. Floating-rate debt funds posted $1.3 billion in outflows, marking their biggest withdrawals since August 2011. (Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )

U.S. Treasury debt prices slid on Friday, pressured by sharp losses in UK bonds after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said interest rates could rise sooner than expected, as well as expectations of an imminent rate hike from the Federal Reserve. Yields across the board rose after two straight days of declines, with market participants selling the front to the intermediate end of the curve more than long-term government securities. The underperformance of shorter-term maturities rather than longer-dated issues stemmed from their higher sensitivity to traders' expectations that Fed policy-makers might raise rates sooner than they had thought. "There are some unwinds of curve trades 10s and 30s, 5s and 30s. People are taking profits after the relative sharp flattening move," said Ian Lyngen, senior government bond trader at CRT Capital in Stamford, Connecticut. A flattening curve reflects an expectation that the Fed will hike rates soon. But losses in Treasuries p

Britain's finance minister George Osborne this week rejected European Union plans to outlaw currency market manipulation and instead set out his own proposals to make rigging exchange rates a criminal offence. A panel led by the Bank of England and including the Treasury and Financial Conduct Authority will recommend new criminal sanctions which meet the needs of London, where much of the largely unregulated FX market takes place. Osborne's announcement comes as regulators around the world investigate allegations of collusion and price-manipulation in the $5-trillion-a-day market, by far the world's largest. Since the allegations first surfaced last year, some 40 traders have been placed on leave, suspended or fired by some of the world's biggest banks. No individual or bank has been accused of wrongdoing and no evidence of wrongdoing has been found. All the banks involved are cooperating with the regulators. Below is a timeline on the scandal engulfing the FX m