Government And Institutions

Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates declined this week, with the 30-year loan rate hitting its low for the year.

Regulators have approved allowing depleted uranium to be buried at a West Texas nuclear waste dump site.

Women are a growing force in the business world, but if they own a company, they may still struggle to get a loan from a bank.

State House and Senate leaders said Tuesday that lawmakers have reached a compromise on legislation to make Duke Energy curb pollution from its 33 coal ash dumps across North Carolina.

Kansas regulators filed a complaint Wednesday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission against Westar Energy, Inc., alleging the state's largest utility is charging unjust and unreasonable electric transmission rates.

Building more affordable housing for Maine seniors and boosting Medicaid reimbursements to home care workers were among several policy ideas rolled out by House Speaker Mark Eves on Wednesday.

Warren Buffett's company has agreed to an $896,000 penalty for failing to tell regulators about a December 2013 investment in wallboard maker USG Corp.

Officials familiar with the deal say Bank of America has reached a record $17 billion settlement with federal and state authorities over its role in the sale of mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

The Justice Department's $17 billion settlement with Bank of America almost certainly will not cost the company that much.

New York regulators have reached agreement for Standard Chartered Bank to pay a $300 million penalty and suspend dollar exchanges through its New York branch for high-risk retail business clients at its SCB Hong Kong subsidiary.

A state pension fund committee on Tuesday approved retirement calculations for new government hires despite concerns about so-called "pension spiking" raised by Gov. Jerry Brown and local governments.

State environmental regulators have fined a gas drilling company for allowing natural gas to escape a well in northeastern Pennsylvania.

An estimated 5,000 to 8,000 gallons of fuel oil spilled into the Ohio River, leading authorities to shut off water intake valves for both the Ohio and Kentucky sides of the waterway to protect water supplies, and a 15-mile section of the river was closed to allow cleanup.

Two Connecticut lawmakers on Tuesday announced a drive in Congress to require child-proof bottles of liquid nicotine used for e-cigarettes.

A Japanese auto parts supplier, NSK, says it has been fined by Chinese anti-monopoly regulators in a growing investigation of the industry.

A California billionaire environmentalist is shaking up the Florida governor's race by spending millions to organize Hispanic and youth voters and buy attack ads targeting Gov. Rick Scott.

The U.N.

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were unchanged in Monday's auction.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers will pay $25 million and face a two-year suspension from consulting for new bank clients in an agreement with New York regulators.

Ending insurance discrimination against the sick was a central goal of the nation's health care overhaul, but leading patient groups say that promise is being undermined by new barriers from insurers.