Bear Stearns Co

Irvine-based mortgage company ECC Capital Corp. said Tuesday that it would exit sub-prime wholesale lending, selling that part of its business to brokerage Bear Stearns Cos. The move marks a deeper move by Wall Street into home lending as struggling companies leave the field. Under the agreement, Bear Stearns' loan unit, Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage, will buy the sub-prime wholesale mortgage origination business of ECC Capital's Encore Credit unit.

The judge overseeing a $1.4-billion settlement of an investor lawsuit alleging that investment banks issued biased research told the administrator of the fund Friday to seek more investors who may be eligible for compensation. Banks including Citigroup Inc. and Bear Stearns & Co. agreed in 2003 to pay $1.4 billion to settle state and federal claims that analysts published misleading research to win investment-banking business. In May, with $164 million unclaimed from investor victims, U.S.

Wall Street brokerage firm Bear Stearns & Co. has agreed to pay $250 million to settle charges that it executed improper mutual-fund trades that allowed hedge funds to make hundreds of millions of dollars in profit at the expense of individual investors, regulators said Thursday.

Bear Stearns Cos. said Friday that a federal regulator asked its EMC Mortgage Corp. unit to provide documents in connection with an investigation into "sub-prime" lending. The Federal Trade Commission sent a civil investigative demand -- similar to a subpoena -- seeking documents and data relating to EMC's business practices, Bear Stearns said in a regulatory filing. An FTC official confirmed that the agency was investigating EMC, but declined to provide additional details.

Calpine Corp. said Thursday that it had set up an energy marketing and trading venture with investment firm Bear Stearns Cos., a key part of the independent power producer's plan to slash debt and strengthen its operations. CalBear Energy, based in Houston, will use capital from Bear Stearns and about 200 Calpine traders, the companies said. Bear Stearns, which will provide about 15 executives and risk managers, didn't say how much it would invest.

Wall Street brokerage Bear Stearns Cos. said Wednesday that it faced a possible Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action and fine over improper mutual fund trading. The SEC has authorized its staff to bring an enforcement action against the company and its Bear Stearns Securities Corp. unit, the company said in an SEC filing. Bear Stearns said the action could lead to the repayment of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties or other sanctions.

Bear Stearns Cos. said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 22%, helped by the sale of a stake in a women's clothing chain and an increase in bond trading. The No. 6 U.S. securities firm earned $352.6 million, or $2.61 a share, in the quarter ended Nov. 30, up from $288 million, or $2.19, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 20% to $1.83 billion. Bear Stearns was expected to earn $291 million, or $2.14 a share, based on the average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

An Alabama judge Wednesday allowed a jury to hear that Bear Stearns Cos. settled claims by state securities regulators who accused the firm of issuing tainted analyst research. Alabama Securities Commissioner Joe Borg was permitted to testify about the August 2003 settlement at the trial of a lawsuit by a state pension fund that sued Bear Stearns over bonds backed by WorldCom Inc.

Bear Stearns Cos. is examining whether executives in its brokerage unit approved improper mutual fund trades, company records show. The New York-based firm is checking e-mails from 109 employees as it seeks details of trades to determine whether high-ranking executives approved transactions that diluted the returns of long-term fund investors, records show.

Bear Stearns Cos. said Wednesday that it could face a suit from the Securities and Exchange Commission because of links to improper mutual fund trading. Bear Stearns said the SEC told the company that the agency may pursue enforcement action. The SEC has been probing whether the New York-based company helped Canary Capital Partners and other firms make illegal trades, people familiar with the matter have said.