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* Top Obama administration officials are close to recommending that Congress create a single regulator to oversee the entire banking sector, people familiar with the matter said, a departure from the hodgepodge of federal agencies that failed to contain the financial crisis as it ballooned out of control last year.

* Citigroup Inc () is in the early stages of negotiating with the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle an investigation into whether it misled investors by not properly disclosing the amount of troubled mortgage assets it held as the market began to implode in 2007, people familiar with the matter say.

* Pequot Capital Management -- a pioneering and well-connected hedge fund that gained fame for racking up years of strong returns -- is shutting its doors amid a revived insider-trading probe.

* A government program designed to rid banks of bad loans, part of a broader effort once viewed as central to tackling the financial crisis, is stalling and may soon be put on hold, according to people familiar with the matter.

* General Motors Corp GM.N bondholders soundly rejected a debt-swap offer critical to the auto maker's survival, pushing the company closer to a bankruptcy filing that could come in the next few days.

* Time Warner Inc () is set to announce a separation of its AOL division as soon as Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter.

* U.S. manufacturing output is expected to decline 12 percent this year, a much sharper pullback than the 8 percent predicted just three months ago and a sign of how the downturn is hitting factories particularly hard, according to a new report.

* Treasury yields and mortgage rates surged Wednesday to their highest levels since November, dealing a blow to the Federal Reserve's efforts to stimulate the economy by keeping borrowing costs low.

* Visteon Corp VSTN.PK, a former division of Ford Motor Co () and one of the country's largest auto suppliers, is planning to put its U.S. operations into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday morning, say people familiar with the matter.

* A run of positive clinical trials and lucrative financing deals is injecting fresh energy into the biotechnology industry, which has been hit particularly hard in the economic downturn.

* Toys "R" Us Inc [TOY.UL] said Wednesday it was acquiring FAO Schwarz, a specialty retailer known for its high-end toy catalog and two big stores in New York and Las Vegas. Toys "R" Us didn't disclose the terms of the deal.

* Germany's financial regulator warned of serious problems at Hypo Real Estate Holding AG HRXG.DE six months before the lender was rescued in a massive bailout, but the regulator lacked powers to act and the government ignored its warnings, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal.