Citigroup's new chief executive Michael Corbat will be paid 10pc less than his predecessor Vikram Pandit

Mr Corbat, who was named chief executive on Tuesday after Mr Pandit's shock exit , will be paid a basic salary of$1.5m (£920,000), Citi said.
That compares with the$1.67m in base salary that Mr Pandit received last year. Citi has yet to disclose the potential size of a possible bonus for Mr Corbat, who received total compensation of $9m in 2010.
Mr Pandit's total compensation last year was$15m, a sum which alongside a multi-million dollar retention bonus, provoked a revolt from the bank's shareholders in April .
Citi had already paid Mr Pandit $7m of the $15m in cash, with the rest due to be paid in shares. Mr Pandit is expected to receive the remaining sum as long as he does not work for a major competitor over the next three years

Man arrested in Federal Reserve terror plot

Federal authorities running a sting operation arrested a 21-year-old Bangladeshi man, who came to the U.S. on a student visa and was allegedly planning to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with what he believed was a 1,000-pound bomb, officials said. Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis was detained Wednesday after an alleged attempt to detonate the device, which was inert and partof an elaborate investigation by federal authorities and NYPD detectives. Prosecutors say Nafis wasapparently motivated byal Qaeda and traveled tothe United States in January under the pretext of attending college in Missouri in order carry out "a terrorist attack on U.S. soil" and to recruit members to form a terrorist cell. Accused 9/11 mastermind says U.S. tortured in name of national security It's not clear whether Nafis maintained al Qaeda ties, but authorities say he apparently claimed that the plot was his own, and that it was his sole motivation for the U.S. trip. One of the people Nafis apparently contacted was an FBI source to whom he proposed multiple targets, including a high-ranking U.S. officialas well as the New York Stock Exchange, authorities said. At one point, the suspectcontemplated President Barack Obama as a target, but that idea never progressed, a U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation said. While the details surrounding the suspected plot remain murky, prosecutors say Nafis indicated that he wanted to "destroy America" by going after the nation's financial institutions and ultimately settled on thelandmark bank. The undercover agent, authorities say, also provided 20 bags of 50 pounds each of purported explosives to Nafis, who then stored the material in a warehouse in preparation for the strike. They say Nafis further divulged a "Plan B" thatinvolved carrying out a suicide attack should police thwart his initial effort.

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) says its net income dipped 5 percent in the third quarter,

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) says its net income dipped 5 percent in the third quarter, as the food and beverage maker worked to turn aroundits business and bolsterits flagship brands. The company stood by its guidance for theyear, however, and profit came in above Wall Street expectations. PepsiCo says it earned$1.9 billion, or $1.21 per share, for the period. That's compared with $2 billion, or $1.25 per share, a year ago. Earnings from core operations were $1.20 per share, better than the $1.16 per share analysts expected. Revenue fell 5 percentto $16.65 billion, partly because of unfavorable currency exchange rates and the refranchising of itsbusiness in China and Mexico. That was shortof the $16.96 billion Wall Street expected.

Bank of America reported a slim quarterly profit

Bank of America reported a slim quarterly profit on Wednesday, a small success for the bank after doling out huge payments to settle claims it misled investors about its takeover of Merrill Lynch during the financial crisis. The bank reported$340 million in net income, a 95 percent drop from the $6.23 billion profit it posted in the period a year earlier. The results amounted to zero cents per diluted share,compared with 56 cents last year. The bank's revenue also dropped 28 percent, to $20.6 billion. The top and bottom line figures reinforced concerns that Bank of America, the nation's second-largest by assets after JPMorgan Chase, had struggled to shed the legacy of the 2008 crisis.

I.B.M. delivered a mixed and somewhat unsettling quarterly performance

I.B.M. delivered a mixed and somewhat unsettling quarterly performance on Tuesday. Profits barely exceeded Wall Street's expectations, while revenue fell well below. The results, analysts said, were unlikely to reassure investors concerned about the global outlook for technology spending. In a conference call with analysts, Mark Loughridge, I.B.M.'s chief financial officer, said the revenue shortfall came from a slowdown in business, especially in September, in certain markets including the United States, where revenue fell 5 percent. "It was surprisingly disappointing," said A. M. Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. "All the businesses were light." In after-hours trading, I.B.M. shares fell $7.10 a share, or 3.4 percent, to $203.90. In the regular session, the company's stock price rose 1 percent, or$2.07 a share, to close at $211.00 a share.I.B.M. Squeezes Out a Profit as Its Revenue Declines I.B.M. is the world's largest supplier of information technology - computer hardware, software and services -to corporations and governments. So the company's results are watched as a gauge oftechnology spending trends. But I.B.M., more than other computer companies in the corporate market, has steadily shifted its business in recent yearsto software and services. As a result, an estimated 40 percent of the company's revenue and 60 percent of its profits come from steady subscriptionlike businesses, mainly software license fees and services contracts. That means I.B.M. is more insulated from industry cycles than most other technologysuppliers. I.B.M. has also shed hardware businesses with low profit margins including personal computers and disk drives.

capital employed

The value of all resources available to the company, typically comprising share capital, retained profits and reserves, long-term loans and deferred taxation. Viewed from the other side of the balance sheet, capital employed comprises fixed assets, investments and the net investment in working capital (current assets less current liabilities). In other words: the total long-term funds invested in or lent to the business and used by it in carrying out its operations

dividend

A dividend is a payment made per share, to a company's shareholders by acompany, based on the profits of the year, but not necessarily all of the profits, arrived at by the directors and voted at the company's annual general meeting. A company can choose to pay adividend from reserves following a loss-making year,and conversely a company can choose to pay no dividend after a profit-making year, depending on what is believed to be in the best interests of the company. Keeping shareholders happy and committed to their investment is always an issue in deciding dividend payments. Along with the increase in value of a stock orshare, the annual dividend provides the shareholder with a return on the shareholding investment

'free on board

The FOB (Free On Board) abbreviation is an import/export term relating to the point at which responsibility for goods passes from seller (exporter) to buyer (importer). It's in this listing because it's commonly misunderstood and also has potentially significant financial implications. FOB meant originally (and depending on the context stills generally means) that the seller is liable for the goods and is responsible for all costs of transport, insurance, etc., until and including the goods being loaded at the (nominated FOB) port. An importing buyer would typically ask for the FOB price, (which is now now often linked to a port name, eg., FOB Hamburg or FOB Vancouver), knowing that this price is 'free' or inclusiveof all costs and liabilities of getting the goods from the seller to the port and on board the craft or vessel. Logically FOB also meant and still means that the seller is liable for any loss or damage up to the point that the goods are loaded onto the vessel at the FOB port, and that thereafter the buyerassumes responsibility for thegoods and the costs of transport and the liability. From the seller's point of view an FOB price must therefore include/recover his costs of transport from factory or warehouse, insurance and loading, because the seller is unable to charge these costs as extras once the FOB price has been stated. The FOB expression originates particularly from the meaning that the buyer is free of liability and costs of transport up to the point thatthe goods are loaded on board the ship. In modern times FOB also applies to freight for export by aircraft from airports. In recent yearsthe term has come to be used in slightly different ways, even to the extent thatother interpretations are placed on the acronym, mostcommonly 'Freight On Board', which is technically incorrect. While technically incorrect also, terms such as 'FOB Destination' have entered into common use, meaning that the insurance liability and costs of transportation and responsibility for the goods are the seller's until the goods are delivered to the buyer's stipulated delivery destination. If in doubt ask exactly what the other person means by FOB because the applications have broadened. While liability and responsibility forgoods passes from seller to buyer at the point that goodsare agreed to be FOB, the FOB principle does not correlate to payment terms, which is a matter for separatenegotiation. FOB is a mechanism for agreeing price and transport responsibility, not for agreeing payment terms. In summary: FOB (Free On Board), used alone, originally meant that the transportation cost and liability for exported goods was with the seller until the goods were loaded onto the ship (at the port of exportation); nowadays FOB (Free On Board or the distorted interpretation 'Freight On Board') has a wider usage - the principle is the same, ie., seller has liability for goods, insurance and costs of transport until the goods are loaded (or delivered), but the point at which goods are 'FOB' is no longer likely to be just the port of export - it can be anyplace that it suits the buyer to stipulate. So, if you are an exporter, beware of buyers stipulating 'FOB destination' - it means the exporter is liable for the goods and paystransport costs up until delivery to the customer.

Bank Insurance Fund

A unit of the FDIC that provides insurance protections for banks that arenot classified as a savings and loan association. As with all FDIC protection, the BIF provides coverage of up to$250,000 per customer account for insolvent banks. The BIF was created as a result of the savings and loan meltdown in the late eighties.

'Bad Debt Reserve'

An account set aside by a company to account for and offset losses that arise as a result of defaults from futures loans. This figure maybe calculated based on historical norms or other known information about therelative safety of the debt.
Also known as a "loss reserve".