Securities regulators from several states raided the St. Louis headquarters of Wachovia Securities, part of Wachovia, as part of a broad investigation into questionable practices involving auction rate securities, Missouri officials said.

A U.S. Senate subcommittee accused banks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein of helping wealthy Americans evade billions in taxes each year, and urged the establishment of tougher laws to combat offshore tax havens around the world.

British mortgage bank Bradford & Bingley won shareholder backing for a 400 million pound rights issue rescue but not until executives were quizzed on the troubled fundraising and the lender's future.

A U.S. Senate subcommittee accused banks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein of helping wealthy Americans evade billions in taxes each year, and urged the establishment of tougher laws to combat offshore tax havens around the world.

The SEC issued its emergency ruling against naked short-selling Tuesday to build investor confidence regarding market information, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox told CNBC.

U.S. securities regulators issued an emergency rule Tuesday to limit certain types of short selling in major financial firms, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

UBS AG on Tuesday said it will buy back up to $3.5 billion of auction-rate securities that froze up earlier this year when the market took a downturn.

Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., a real estate investment trust focusing on investing in residential mortgages, said Monday it will acquire a special servicing platform from UBS AG.

Swiss authorities could require UBS and Credit Suisse to set aside an additional 70 billion Swiss francs ($68.29 billion) in capital, a newspaper reported on Sunday, citing lawmakers.

Battered Swiss bank UBS said on Friday it should be saved from another hefty loss in the second quarter by a large tax credit, but its shares, after a short-lived boost on the news, fell back after a Moody's downgrade.

Two of Europe's biggest investment banks, Switzerland's UBS and Deutsche Bank, moved to calm investors, telling them that they did not need extra cash to cope with the global markets crisis.

A federal judge in Miami authorized the Internal Revenue Service to request information from UBS about U.S. taxpayers who may be using Swiss bank accounts to evade federal income taxes, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.

Stocks coasted to a positive finish, fueled by better-than-expected sales from General Motors, short covering and a pop in a manufacturing gauge, in what was a rollercoaster start to the first half.

It was a rocky start to the second half for Wall Street as the market digested a mixed bag of auto sales, a $2 jump in oil prices and an encouraging reading on manufacturing.

Stocks had a wobbly start to the first half  as a $3 jump in oil prices and selloff in European banks rippled through the market.