The corporate glass ceiling remains firmly in place at companies based in California, according to a study released Wednesday.

Volatility in the financial markets is expected to continue into 2010, but to a lesser extent, said Louis Cheung, group president of China's Ping An Insurance . However, he said despite a strong recovery in the domestic economy, China would not be immune to the global market turbulence.

Goldman Sachs apologized for the role it played in the financial crisis, by taking part in the credit boom which preceded the bursting of the bubble the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

Former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain, who was fired after a scandal over the payment of billions of bonuses to Merrill traders, argued that big payouts played no role in triggering the financial crisis.

High credit default rates and consumer debt will cause the US economy to recover at a slower pace than it did after previous economic downturns, said Steve Schwarzman, CEO of private equity firm The Blackstone Group.

Cisco Systems has seen its US business recover more quickly than anticipated, and Chairman and CEO John Chambers said he thinks the global economy has reached the first stage of its recovery.

American Express has seen a consistent improvement in write-off rates and 30-day past due, Kenneth Chenault, American Express chairman and Ceo, told CNBC Tuesday.

Lazard on Tuesday named insider Kenneth Jacobs as CEO and chairman, succeeding legendary Wall Street dealmaker Bruce Wasserstein, who died last month.

GMAC Chief Executive Al de Molina has resigned, and will be replaced by Michael Carpenter, the troubled lender said Monday.

Nine chief executives and chairmen from around the world have signed up for an exclusive CNBC initiative, "The Carbon Council", aimed at identifying opportunities in clean technology and the larger business of sustainability. 

The company is in a position to start paying back taxpayer loans, but still lost $1.2 billion in the third quarter.

With a crucial holiday approaching for video game makers, Reggie Fils-Aime, President and COO of Nintendo America, said he expects the close release dates of big-name titles "Call of Duty" and "Super Mario Bros. Wii," out Sunday, to revive the industry from its sales lag.

General Electric and Vivendi are making slow progress in talks for the French media company to shed its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal, but a deal is still expected in the next 10 days, sources told CNBC.

The oil market is well supplied, with inventories at record levels globally, and the market continues "to be a bit soft," but prices are getting a big boost from the dollar's fall, Exxon Mobil CEO and Chairman Rex Tillerson told CNBC Friday.

Two of Walt Disney top executives, Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs and parks chairman Jay Rasulo, will swap jobs at the end of 2009 to give each other new challenges, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said on Thursday.