Sapient says SEC finishes probe of stock options

One day after Sapient Corp. stock established a 52-week high of $9.55, the Securities and Exchange Commission informed the Cambridge technology consulting company that it finished its investigation into its stock option grant practices. Sapient said the SEC also informed it that it does not plan to recommend enforcement action as a result of the probe. Yesterday, shares fell 16 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $9.27. (AP)

Integrity Bank of Alpharetta, Ga., was closed by US regulators, the 10th bank to collapse this year amid a surge in soured real-estate loans stemming from the worst housing slump since the Great Depression. Integrity, with $1.1 billion in assets and $974 million in deposits, was shuttered by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Regions Financial Corp., Alabama's biggest bank, will assume all deposits from Integrity, which was run by Integrity Bancshares Inc. The failed bank's five offices will open on Tuesday as branches of Regions, the FDIC said. The FDIC has said there are 117 banks on its watch list. The agency does not reveal the names of the institutions on the list. (Bloomberg)

Newly delinquent mortgage borrowers outnumbered those who caught up on their overdue payments by almost two to one in July, according to an industry trade group. Last month 68,831 homeowners with privately insured mortgages became more than 60 days late on payments, compared with 39,229 who got back on track, a report from Mortgage Insurance Companies of America said. Mortgage insurance pays lenders when homeowners default, and is typically required when a borrower puts down less than 20 percent on a home. (Bloomberg)

General Motors Corp. has started to offer early-retirement packages to selected white-collar workers as part of a plan to cut 15 percent of its salaried jobs in the United States and Canada. GM would not release details of the packages, how many workers will get the offers, or what areas are targeted for reductions. Workers who accept the offers will retire by Nov. 1, a GM spokesman said. In July, GM disclosed its intent to cut its salaried workforce by about 5,100 as part of a larger plan to slash billions in costs and help the automaker ride out a slump in US sales. (AP)

The Internal Revenue Service will temporarily stop pursuing thousands of Americans who ended up owing large tax debts instead of becoming millionaires after exercising a certain kind of stock option. IRS commissioner Doug Shulman said the agency will stop collecting alternative minimum taxes, penalties, and interest owed by workers who exercised incentive stock options only to see their value plummet before they sold. Shulman said the hiatus is in effect until the fiscal year ends Sept. 30 to give Congress time to pass legislation offering workers relief from the debts. Incentive stock options receive special tax preferences allowing holders to obtain a lower tax rate on their profits if they hold the stock for at least a year after exercising, typically 15 percent. (Bloomberg)

Ford Motor Co. says a federal judge has approved a trust fund set up by the automaker and the United Auto Workers that will pay retiree healthcare bills for union members. Ford says the fund, called a voluntary employees beneficiary association, will cover about 200,000 UAW-represented Ford retirees and their surviving spouses in the United States. Federal judges approved similar agreements between the UAW and General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC in July. All three automakers are scheduled to shift their retiree healthcare obligations to the VEBA funds on Jan. 1, 2010. Ford has said it expects a net cash flow benefit of $1 billion per year once the retiree healthcare costs are shifted to the trust. (AP)