The global private equity industry closed 2013 with "dry powder" amounting to $1.074 trillion, a figure much higher than the previous record high of $1.067 billion posted before the 2008 global financial crisis.

Private equity companies are buying the debt of the companies they own so they can become creditors and have a second shot at making money on their investments.

India's Bombay Bullion Association, a traders' group representing 1,000 jewelers and traders, plans to buy a 5% stake in the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd after the Forward Markets Commission said its founder was not eligible to run the bourse.

Italian automaker Fiat SpA has agreed to buy the remaining stake of Chrysler Group held by the United Auto Workers retiree healthcare trust, paving the way for both carmakers to finally merge.

Popolare Vicenza Chairman Gianni Zonin told an Italian daily that Banca Popolare di Vicenza intends to grow its branches to a thousand from its current 690 through acquisitions.

Carl Icahn has proposed that Apple increase its stock buyback program to $50 billion but Apple cited reasons why shareholders should not vote for it.

The Old Ghost Road cycle trail, which is developed by Mokihinui-Lyell Backcountry Trust, received $800,000 from the Department of Conservation of New Zealand to complete the project.

A regulatory filing showed that Ozy Media, a daily digital news startup co-founded by Carlos Watson and launched in September, raised $5.3 million, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

Miami failed to convince US District Judge Cecilia Altonaga that the lawsuit filed against the city by the US Securities and Exchange Commission should be dismissed, Reuters reported.

Dallas-based Behringer Harvard Multifamily REIT I Inc expanded its co-investment arrangement with PGGM Private Real Estate Fund by agreeing to a new $300 million deal to co-invest in multifamily communities.

The Wendy's Company said it had sold 30 restaurants in Austin to HAZA Foods and another 19 restaurants to Desmond Foods as part of its System Optimization initiative.

Tim Draper, the billionaire whose venture capital firm has invested in Skype and Baidu, has proposed to divide California into six mini-states, the Financial Times reported.

US retailer Target said that the data breach involving some 40 million of its credit and debit cards included encrypted personal identification numbers, the Financial Times reported.

Marathon Asset Management, the New York-based hedge fund that owns the town of Scotia in California needs to make a slick exit, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The 18.6% increase in the shares of listings backed by private equity firms will fuel the demand of institutional investors as more public debuts are being planned, the Financial Times reported.

US bank regulators said they would consider allowing banks to hold on to complex securities despite the Volcker rule prohibiting them from owning such and would arrive at a decision in the middle of January.

Educators in Illinois filed a class action lawsuit in the Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago asking the court to void a new state pension reform law, Reuters reported.

Detroit pension funds, the General Retirement System and Police and Fire Retirement System, submitted an expedited appeal with the US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on a judge's ruling about Detroit's bankruptcy.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel ordered the San Francisco-based brokerage unit of Wells Fargo & Co to buy back auction rate securities amounting to $94 million from its investors.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the legal costs of Bank of America could continue to rise, mostly due to its ill-fated acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp in 2008.

Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp have asked regulators to make sure that Microsoft's takeover of Nokia's handset business will not result to increased patent fees in wireless technology, according to sources who talked to Bloomberg.

Apple Inc has asked a US District Court in California to ban the sales in the US of more than 20 smartphones and tablets of its rival Samsung Electronics, Bloomberg reported.

Mergers and acquisitions or M&A deals continue to decline in India this year as slow business growth, an uncertain economic climate and the instability of the foreign exchange rate led investors to be more cautious, the Business Standard said in a report.

US-based Fortress Investment Group intends to raise $1.9 billion to form the first infrastructure fund in Japan called Fortress Japan Income Fund, sources told Reuters.

Marijuana-focused magazine High Times said it is working towards creating the High Times Growth Fund that will allow investors to invest in legitimate marijuana startups, CNBC reported.

Bloomberg Businessweek reported that Japanese hedge funds posted record returns this year as investors bet that Abenomics will bring the world's third-largest economy back on its feet.

Should everything goes as planned, online discount retailer Overstock.com will be the first prominent retailer to accept Bitcoins as payment, The New York Times Bits reported.

Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical, a Chinese drug maker that trades on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, will be purchasing Wisconsin-based Scientific Protein Laboratories in a deal worth $337.5 million, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

Cessna aircrafts and Bell helicopters maker Textron Inc said it had approved the purchase of Beechcraft Corp in a deal worth $1.4 billion, Bloomberg reported.

A holiday shopping season slump failed to materialize in the UK as shoppers flocked to stores on Boxing Day, giving British retailers a boost, The Telegraph reported.