CA-BUSINESS Summary

TSX slips to three-month low as U.S. data drags

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell to its lowest in more than three months on Thursday, led by declines in energy and financial shares, as weak U.S. jobless claims numbers stoked worries about the recovery in the world's biggest economy. Investors also nervously eyed major monetary policy moves, with the Bank of Japan planning to pump more money into the economy and the European Central Bank President saying the ECB was "ready to act."

SNC-Lavalin chairman, three other board members to retire

TORONTO (Reuters) - SNC-Lavalin Group Inc , which has already changed its structure and executive team after a scandal-plagued year, said on Thursday four of its board members, including its chairman, will retire at its annual shareholder meeting. The Montreal-based company said Chairman Gwyn Morgan, along with fellow directors David Goldman, Pierre Lessard and Edythe Marcoux, will step down on May 2, as part of its board renewal process that was outlined in December.

Analysis: U.S. turns to thrift-era fraud law to tackle money laundering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department is again testing the reach of a once-dormant civil fraud law, applying it to money laundering after reviving it recently for cases tied to the financial crisis. The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, passed in 1989 in response to the savings-and-loan crisis, covers fraud that "affects" federally insured financial institutions, a broad category that is increasingly useful to government lawyers.

Exclusive: UBS was mystery lender for Thai group's Ping An buy from HSBC - sources

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The mystery lender behind a Thai billionaire's $9.4 billion purchase of a stake in China's No.2 insurer was UBS, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, revealing how the bank stepped in at the last minute to offer a complex financing package known only to a few involved. The Swiss bank's financial backing for China's largest ever foreign stock purchase explains how a Thai conglomerate scraped together $7.4 billion in cash for the deal's final payment, after its main lender backed out at the 11th hour.

Ex-Monte Paschi managers hit with five-million-euro fine: sources

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - The Bank of Italy has ordered former top executives of Monte dei Paschi di Siena to pay a total of 5 million euros ($6.4 million) for a lack of controls over risky trades at the bank, two sources close to the situation said. The fines were imposed after the Bank of Italy completed a thorough inquiry into risky dealings that forced the Tuscan bank to book hundreds of millions of euros of additional losses.

Telefonica receives $257 million credit line for Blackberry phones

MADRID (Reuters) - Telefonica , Europe's biggest telecoms operator by revenue, has received a 200 million euro ($257 million) financing facility from the Canadian export agency to buy BlackBerry smartphones and services. Export Development Canada (EDC) said the credit line to Telefonica would be used to provide BlackBerry products and services across Telefonica's international operations.

BOJ to pump $1.4 trillion into economy in unprecedented stimulus

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan unleashed the world's most intense burst of monetary stimulus on Thursday, promising to inject about $1.4 trillion into the economy in less than two years, a radical gamble that sent the yen reeling and bond yields to record lows. New Governor Haruhiko Kuroda committed the BOJ to open-ended asset buying and said the monetary base would nearly double to 270 trillion yen ($2.9 trillion) by the end of 2014, a dose of shock therapy officials hope will end two decades of stagnation.

Thousands protest Chevron's shale gas plans in Romania

BARLAD, Romania (Reuters) - Thousands of Romanians across the country protested on Thursday against Chevron's plans to explore for shale gas, demanding the country's leftist government withdraw concessions and ban drilling of the U.S. company's first test wells. About 500 rallied in the town of Barlad on the eastern border with Moldova where Chevron has a nearby 1.6 million acre concession, some wearing gas masks, many chanting "Chevron go home."

Samsung to open brand shops in Best Buy stores; Wall Street approves

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is planning to install its brand shops in more than 1,400 Best Buy Co Inc stores this year, a move that some on Wall Street said could help the world's largest consumer electronics chain boost in-store traffic, sales and profitability. The news pushed Best Buy shares up 12.5 percent to $24.36 on Thursday.

Ex-Goldman trader Taylor pleads guilty to wire fraud

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc trader Matthew M. Taylor pleaded guilty on Wednesday to defrauding the Wall Street bank with an unauthorized $8.3 billion futures trade in 2007, saying he exceeded internal risk limits and lied to supervisors to cover up his activities. Taylor, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal court in lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning, after voluntarily turning himself into federal authorities earlier in the day.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-003556248--finance.html

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