R Block Inc

Activist investor Richard Breeden's quest for seats on H&R Block Inc.'s board got a boost Monday, as three shareholder advisory firms backed the slate of candidates proposed by the former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman. Breeden, a hedge fund investor, said Proxy Governance Inc., Egan-Jones Proxy Services and Taft-Hartley Advisory Services urged shareholders to vote for Breeden and two colleagues at the largest U.S. tax preparer's annual meeting Sept. 6.

H&R Block Inc. shareholders elected hedge fund manager Richard Breeden to the board, putting more pressure on the company to shut its sub-prime mortgage unit and sell others not tied to the business of preparing tax returns. Breeden, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and two of his candidates won a majority of the vote Thursday. Results were released at the annual meeting in Kansas City, Mo., where H&R Block, the nation's biggest tax-preparation company, is based.

H&R Block Inc. shareholders elected hedge fund manager Richard Breeden to the board, putting more pressure on the company to shut its sub-prime mortgage unit and sell others not tied to the business of preparing tax returns. Breeden, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and two of his candidates won a majority of the vote Thursday. Results were released at the annual meeting in Kansas City, Mo., where H&R Block, the nation's biggest tax-preparation company, is based.

H&R Block Inc. said Thursday that the sale of its Option One Mortgage Corp. sub-prime lending unit might fall apart because of deteriorating credit markets and a quarterly loss that more than doubled. The largest U.S. tax preparer said that Option One planned to stop offering sub-prime home loans and that private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management might buy just the loan servicing business, after agreeing in April to buy the entire unit. H&R Block, based in Kansas City, Mo.

H&R Block Inc. said Thursday that the sale of its Option One Mortgage Corp. sub-prime lending unit might fall apart because of deteriorating credit markets and a quarterly loss that more than doubled. The largest U.S. tax preparer said that Option One planned to stop offering sub-prime home loans and that private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management might buy just the loan servicing business, after agreeing in April to buy the entire unit. H&R Block, based in Kansas City, Mo.

Derrick Bean filed his income taxes at an H&R Block office in Los Angeles this month, and the 26-year-old left with something unexpected: a price quote on federally subsidized health insurance. Using the information from his 2012 return, a tax advisor told the actor and waiter that he would qualify for significant government help and pay only about $65 a month in premiums under the federal healthcare law. If he skips coverage, H&R Block warned him, he faces a $95 tax penalty next year and $356 the following year.

* Six Flags Inc. named Jeffrey Speed chief financial officer. He had been chief financial officer at Euro Disney. * Mountain View, Calif.-based Intuit Inc. agreed to revise an ad campaign for its TurboTax software that competitor H&R Block Inc. said was misleading.

H&R Block Inc.'s Block Financial Corp. unit has completed its acquisition of Option One Mortgage Corp., a Santa Ana-based provider of mortgages to lenders with poorer credit ratings. H&R Block agreed in April to buy Option One from Fleet Financial Group Inc. for $190 million.

Mark Ernst, who left the top job at tax preparer H&R Block Inc. after the company suffered more than $1 billion in losses tied to subprime lending by its mortgage unit, was named a deputy commissioner at the Internal Revenue Service. Ernst, 50, will oversee operations support, an IRS statement said.

Activist investor Richard Breeden's quest for seats on H&R Block Inc.'s board got a boost Monday, as three shareholder advisory firms backed the slate of candidates proposed by the former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman. Breeden, a hedge fund investor, said Proxy Governance Inc., Egan-Jones Proxy Services and Taft-Hartley Advisory Services urged shareholders to vote for Breeden and two colleagues at the largest U.S. tax preparer's annual meeting Sept. 6.

H&R Block Inc. has acquired about 95% of the shares of Interim Systems Corp.in a cash tender for the New Jersey-based temporary help agency. About 94.8 million shares have been acquired for $42.6 million, Block said. The remaining shares will be purchased at the same $1.66-a share price, it said.

H&R Block Inc. expects to fight lawsuits over its tax-refund loans in about six states after a federal judge threw out a national settlement, Chief Executive Mark Ernst said. A U.S. district judge in Illinois ruled against a $25-million settlement last month on concerns that lawyers weren't properly representing H&R Block customers, who claim they were charged exorbitant interest rates.