PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Dec 19
Dec 19 (Reuters) - The New York Times reported the following stories on its business pages on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* The Federal Reserve, acknowledging that home mortgage lenders aggressively sold deceptive loans to borrowers who had little chance of repaying them, proposed a broad set of restrictions Tuesday on exotic mortgages and high-cost loans for people with weak credit.
* The Federal Communications Commission approved two new rules that are likely to reshape the nation's media landscape by setting new parameters for the size and scope of the largest news and cable companies.
* The insurance industry plans on Wednesday to propose a series of steps the companies say would let more individuals obtain coverage.
* Almost half of the states have been underfunding their retirement plans for public workers and may have to choose in the years ahead between their pension obligations and other public programs, according to a comprehensive study to be released to the public on Wednesday.
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) capped another record year on Tuesday with a modest gain in fourth-quarter earnings, prospering amid the financial tumult that has hurt many of its rivals. But investors are growing increasingly worried that Goldman, which raced ahead as the mortgage crisis tore through Wall Street, will fail to match its 2007 performance next year.
* Officials from Merrill Lynch & Co Inc MER.N, Bear Stearns Cos Inc BSC.N and other major banks are in talks to bail out ACA Capital Holdings Inc, according to two people briefed on the situation.
* Silver Lake Partners has agreed to acquire a quarter of the Gerson Lehrman Group, the upstart Wall Street research firm that has come under scrutiny from regulators, according to people involved in the negotiations.
* The European Central Bank on Tuesday pumped 348 billion euros ($500 billion) into the financial system, easing conditions in credit markets.
