Morgan Stanley intends to hire additional bankers in 2016 in order to contend with its rival Nomura. The company failed to present the exact number of staffs being hired.

Private equity firm Silver Lake will invest $500 million in cyber security company, Symantec. The money from the investment will be used by the company to buy back shares and issue a $4 dividend to shareholders.

As per the federal agreement, HSBC has agreed to pay $470 million to provide relief to abused mortgage loan borrowers. The payment will be directed towards mainly Virginia, along with 48 other states. The bank, accused of malpractices like robosigning and bad loan designs, will now be monitored by an independent body to ensure it adheres to the revised banking standards and settlement terms.

All the tech giants are investing heavily in the research and development of virtual and augmented reality products. Google has been reportedly planning a successor to the cardboard VR viewer. The smart phone based headset incorporating improved sensors and lenses will be housed in a solid plastic casing instead of a cardboard.

Contrary to earlier bullish predictions for 2016, several Wall Street strategists have started lowering their forecasts on S&P 500 stocks. The Chinese economy slowdown, volatile oil prices and interest rates are the major reasons for drop in forecast. The gap between highest and lowest forecast has been widening.

The failure of Takata's airbag inflators are keeping pressure on several automobile giants. Volkswagen and Audi will recall Tiguan and Q5 model vehicles for defective airbags made by Takata. Dealers of automobile companies will replace the defective side airbags of Takata at free of charge.

Rolls has been participating in the Naples Winter Festival for the last 15 years with the first production of any new version placed for auction. The first copy Dawn Convertible has been auctioned in January 31 for $750,000 and thus collects $4.8 million in total. The amount received from auction is dedicated for Naples Children & Educational Foundation (NCEF).

Venture capital (VC) funding activity seems to be heading towards pre-recessionary mark. The VC activity recorded robust growth phase for over seven years. The sluggish financial markets are discouraging VC funding and raising money.

The Los Angeles-based fashion retailer Nasty Gal is reducing the number of employees by 10 percent as part of its strategic restructuring. The increasing market competition and uncertainty in financing aspects are forcing the company to reduce the costs. Several former employees moved court against Nasty Gal against layoffs.

Honda said it recalled a total of 442,997 vehicles in Japan. The automaker will also recall 2.2 million cars in the US.