Lehman Bros Holding Inc

Just days before Lehman Bros. Holding Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection last month, the company sought $23.2 million in "special payments" for three outgoing executives, according to internal documents released by a congressional committee Monday. The revelation sparked sharp criticism from Rep.

A former top executive of KB Home has launched a company to invest in troubled residential housing projects owned by embattled home builders. Jeffrey Gault, who ran Los Angeles-based KB's condominium division until June, is now at the helm of LandCap Partners. The Century City-based company has raised more than $350 million to acquire or provide loans for single-family house lots, or partner with builders. The company hasn't yet closed any deals, Gault said. With the U.S.

U.S. investment bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette is in talks to be acquired by a larger rival, Credit Suisse First Boston, signaling more consolidation in the U.S. securities industry, sources said Tuesday. A deal valuing DLJ at $90 per share, or $12.3 billion, is expected to be announced this morning, financial news station CNBC reported, citing industry sources.

When the going gets tough, the tough get pedicures. Just days after the federal government committed $85 billion of taxpayers' money to a bailout of insurance giant AIG last month, senior execs from the troubled company headed to Southern California's ultra-swanky St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach for a week of wining and dining top salespeople. "They had a conference here," resort spokeswoman Kristi Turek confirmed Tuesday, "but we don't get into details of what they did during that time."

The Federal Reserve took another big step late Sunday to reshape Wall Street and end the era of goliath investment banks, even as Congressional Democrats worked to put their imprint on the Treasury Department's unprecedented $700-billion plan to shore up the economy. The Fed gave the green light for the two remaining major investment banks -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc.