Bank of America's primary investment management unit is drawing lower than expected bids after its likeliest suitor, BlackRock, inked a blockbuster deal to buy Barclays Global Investor, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to the matter.

Bank of America Corp's <BAC.N> primary investment management unit is drawing lower than expected bids after its likeliest suitor, BlackRock Inc <BLK.N>, inked a blockbuster deal to buy Barclays Global Investor <BARC.L>, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to the matter.

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's <BAC.N> primary investment management unit is drawing lower than expected bids after its likeliest suitor, BlackRock Inc <BLK.N>, inked a blockbuster deal to buy Barclays Global Investor <BARC.L>, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to the matter.

Blackstone Group is in talks with the Shanghai city government to set up a wholly owned China subsidiary as part of its preparations to launch a local-currency private equity fund, sources said on Thursday.

Increasingly, the corporations that supply Americans with processed foods are unable to guarantee the safety of their ingredients.

With both economic growth and corporate profits under extreme pressure these days, corporate tax rates are under greater scrutiny around the globe.  So, which countries have the highest corporate tax rates? Click ahead to find out! And in case you were wondering, the lowest rates for OECD member countries are in Ireland (12.5%) and Iceland (15%).

Even many of the best companies suffered losses in 2008, but among the 15 highest paid executives, only one heads a company that did not experience a double-digit percentage drops in stock price, with five firms losing more than half their market value. For critics of large executive compensation, these companies are extremely susceptible to criticism.  Who are the highest paid top execs? Click ahead to find out!

Last year (2008) was an extremely quiet one for initial public offerings, with only 21 IPOs hitting the market. By comparison, 159 took place in 2007.  Recently, there has been a relative flurry of IPO activity; three of the four IPOs on US exchanges this year have hit in the past two weeks: Rosetta Stone (RST), Changyou.com (CYOU) and Bridgepoint Education (BPI). April 2009 is already the most active month since July 2008. Thus far, however, all the IPOs this year have been tiny by historical standards.

Stocks tumbled Friday and the S&P hit a 12-year low as news of the government's stake in Citigroup and General Electric slashing its dividend stirred worry in the market.

Futures started the day lower as investors bailed out of Citigroup, then slipped further after a report showed economic growth slowed more than previously expected.

With its plan to shore up banks that was announced on Tuesday, the Obama administration hopes to entice investors to buy troubled assets from the nation’s banks and enable them to make the loans needed to jump-start the economy.

American International Group, has received the first round of bids for its aircraft leasing unit and could announce asset sales of less than $1 billion as early as this week, CNBC has learned.