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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. 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 be allowed to

Higher-than-expected loan losses in the shipping sector ate into DNB's second-quarter earnings, sending shares in Norway's largest bank down almost 5 percent on Thursday. Nordic banks made it through Europe's recent financial crisis relatively unscathed, but have suffered from their exposure to countries in the Baltic region and to a shipping sector which has struggled with overcapacity in recent years. DNB, one of the world's biggest lenders to the shipping sector, had been seeing a declining trend of souring loans in shipping, but the second quarter saw an unexpected uptick in losses for the sector. That took the shine off of what analysts said was otherwise a healthy quarter for the bank. DNB shares traded down 4.6 percent at 110.2 Norwegian crowns by 0851 GMT, underperforming the Oslo market as a whole which was 1.5 percent lower. The results dragged on DNB's Swedish banking peers which report earnings next week. Loan losses in the quarter reached 554 m

Sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding has sold 260.1 million pounds ($442.6 million) worth of shares in London Stock Exchange Group (LSE), a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday, ahead of the LSE's impending $1.6 billion rights issue. Qatar sold the shares at 1,915 pence each as part of its portfolio management, the source said, adding that Qatar remained a supportive shareholder of the LSE. The disposal leaves Qatar with a stake of around 10.3 percent in the company. The LSE is planning a rights issue of new stock to help fund its $2.7 billion purchase of U.S. indexes and investment management business Russell Group, the LSE's largest-ever acquisition, which was announced in June. Qatar could use the money raised to fund the purchase of shares in the rights issue, to which it will be entitled because of its remaining shareholding, a further two sources close to the deal said. The sale represents around 5 percent of the LSE's outstanding shares. The price of

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will go before Congress next week to deliver the U.S. central bank's latest report on monetary policy, congressional officials said on Tuesday. Yellen will appear before the Senate Banking Committee at 10 a.m. EDT on July 15, the Senate committee said. She is scheduled to appear before the House Financial Services Committee at 10 a.m. the following day, a spokesman for the House committee confirmed. The Fed chief by law testifies twice a year to the two congressional panels. Her first visit as Fed chair came in February, and turned into a marathon, six-hour affair as lawmakers quizzed the new central bank chief on her plans. Her appearance next week comes as the Fed is far along in shutting down some of the main stimulus policies it used to combat the recession, and is planning its return to a more normal monetary policy. That includes an ongoing debate over when to increase interest rates and how to manage the possible reduction in the $4

Argentina said on Tuesday it would meet with a mediator for the second time this week in the country's dispute with "holdout" investors, lifting market hopes for a deal needed to avoid another painful debt default. With the economy already in recession, President Cristina Fernandez's cash-strapped government has until July 30 to reach an agreement with hedge funds who refused to participate in the country's earlier debt restructuring and have been suing for full repayment of sovereign bonds which Argentina defaulted on in 2002. On Argentina's local over-the-counter market, benchmark Discount bonds ARDISCD=RASL rose 1.60 percent to 88.65 while Par bonds ARPARD=RASL were up 1.32 percent to 49.90. Traders cited optimism over the talks as the reason for the climb. Argentina's cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich did not say whether the holdout funds led by Elliott Management Corp and Aurelius Capital Management would participate in Friday's meeting. There

Mexico's annual inflation rate is seen climbing in June, but policymakers expect the rise to be temporary as the pace of consumer price gains is contained by a sluggish economy. _0"> Inflation in the 12 months through June MXCPIA=ECI is likely to have come in at 3.78 percent, up from a 3.51 percent annual rate in May, according to a Reuters poll of 20 analysts. The Mexican central bank unexpectedly slashed its main interest rate by 50 basis points in early June to a record low of 3.00 percent, saying slack in the economy gave it room to lower borrowing costs without fanning inflation. Policymakers have said they expect temporary factors to drive the annual rate above the central bank's 4 percent limit in the second half of the year, but that the rate should fall back toward 3 percent by early next year. The Reuters poll showed analysts expect consumer prices to have risen 0.20 percent MXINFL=ECI in June, mostly on an uptick in gasoline prices. Core inflation, whi

A measure of Australian consumer sentiment improved modestly in July as worries about family finances eased, a survey showed on Wednesday, though the depressing impact of an unpopular federal budget continued to linger. _0"> The survey of 1,200 people by the Melbourne Institute and Westpac Bank ( id="symbol_WBC.AX_0"> WBC.AX ) showed the index of consumer sentiment rose a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent in July, from June when it had inched up only 0.2 percent. The index still has not fully recovered from May's 6.8 percent dive which followed a budget of welfare reforms, cutbacks and increased charges for services. The index reading of 94.9 for July was down 7.1 percent on the same month last year and means pessimists still exceed optimists. The survey's measure of sentiment among supporters of the Labor opposition is down 25 percent on a year ago at 83.9. In contrast, the index for supporters of the Liberal National government has risen by 25 percent