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The article reports that Daniel and Tanya Snyder, the embattled owners of the Washington Commanders, had hired bankers BofA Securities to explore potentially selling the team they have owned since 1999.

The article focuses on consumers who are using specially equipped mobile phones as part of a study by a group of payment and wireless companies. The phones enable users to make payments via cellphone. For years, consumers in many European and Asian countries have used mobile handsets to buy goods. In the U.S., the idea has been slow to catch on. The biggest push now comes from credit card companies and big banks. They hope to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in transaction fees to offset the slowdown in credit card use. Prepaid plans are intended to reach new and younger customers.

Reports that the Bank of Japan has eased monetary policy. Increase in the amount of raised by the bank in the money market; Dependence of Japan on exports; Financial statements.

Reports that Osaka, Japan-based Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co. will repurchase its subordinated bonds it sold the Japanese government in 1999. Role of the buy back in freeing the bank from government control and in reducing its interest payments; Competition that Sumitomo is facing in the pension funds market; Recovery of the financial services industry.

Reports on the business rehabilitation of failing banks in Tokyo, Japan. Consideration of Shinsei Bank, formerly Long-Term Credit Bank, as the best-capitalized bank; Government nationalization of Ashikaga Bank Ltd.; Recovery of Aozora Bank through the management of Cerberus company.

Reports that Japanese regulators had taken the control of the Ashikaga Bank, the first regional bank in Tokyo, Japan. Association with other financial companies; Reduction of stockholdings; Inadequacy of the capital.

Focuses on the rating of Moody's Investors Service Inc. on the banking system in Japan. Decision of Moody's to lower deposit ratings of regional banks; Plan of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to end the full guarantee on bank deposits; Adoption of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation system.

Reports the plan of the Daiei Inc. to stave off bankruptcy in banking in Tokyo, Japan. Impact of economic slowdown on the company; Link between lenders and borrowers in the banking industry; Effort of the government to provide tax breaks to Daiei.

DALLAS -- In the best of times, some N.F.L. players have trouble saving their money. Because of an urge to help family and friends, or an inability to sock away some of their paychecks, a distressing number of athletes end up with little in the bank at the end of their careers. N.F.L. players may be forced to take on more financial stress March 4, the day after the current collective bargaining agreement expires. The owners have threatened to lock out the players if they cannot forge a new deal to replace the current one, which the owners say is too favorable to the players. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Fred Wilpon, who said Friday that he was looking to sell a minority stake in the Mets, has been talking to friends and business associates about it for several weeks. He has been unable to find any takers, which prompted him to cast the net wider, according to several sports bankers. Given the concentration of wealthy individuals and companies in New York, and the scarcity of professional teams for sale in the country's largest city, the Mets should find no shortage of potential suitors. A sale, though, depends on what the Mets are willing to sell and under what conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past year, New Yorkers have largely felt apart from the economic turmoil enveloping other parts of the country. But businesses in and around the city have reason to fret, now that banks are becoming more tightfisted during the deepening crisis in credit markets worldwide. Small businesses often live at the mercy of their creditors. When times are good, loans are easy to get. When business sours, loans can dry up. With banks handing out fewer loans and raising interest rates, even healthy businesses are becoming worried that they will not get the credit they need to keep their doors open and their bills paid. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports that MCI, the troubled telecommunications company, has quietly begun shopping itself to potential buyers. Emergence from bankruptcy protection in April; Request for advise from three investment banks and a law firm; Question as to whether to sell the company whole or sell it in parts by splitting its more attractive business services unit from its moribund consumer business; Challenges to the sale; Speculation about the most logical buyers.

Reports on the increase in the short-term rating of Shinser Bank according to research firm Standard & Poor's Corp. in Japan. Provision of public share offering; Reduction of nonperforming loans.

Presents world news briefs relating to business and finance. Growth of Japan's merchandise trade surplus; Rise in profits for Santander Central Hispano, the largest bank in Spain; Corporate turnaround specialist that was hired by the Brazilian unit of Parmalat to help overhaul its money-losing operations; Others.

Reports on Tokyo, Japan-based Shinsei Bank's listing of its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in February 2004. Shares to be sold by shareholders such as Ripplewood Holdings, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank; Problems relating to the refloating of the bank; Ways in which Shinsei is a good role model for other traditional banks.

Discusses the repayment of a loan by the Sumimoto Trust and Banking Company of Osaka, Japan. Indicator for the returning health of Japan's financial industry; Sumimoto which becomes the second major lender, after Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group, to repay all the taxpayer money borrowed at the height of Japan's banking crisis; Details of the repayment; Plans of other banks.

Reports that the Bank of Japan has lifted its assessment of the economy for the fourth month due to higher personal spending.

Discusses how Japanese regulators overtook the Ashikaga Bank as a result of government audits which demonstrated that the bank held many problem loans. Role of banks in the Japanese economy; Risk of bank closings and lack of stable finances; Efforts of national commercial banks to sell stocks and improve profitability; Mistakes made by Ashikaga with regard to lending money to struggling leisure businesses.

Reports on the news that four of the largest banking groups in Japan have returned to profitability after record losses last year. Reasons for the increases; Earnings of this half year; Projections on next year's gains; Resona Holdings which was effectively nationalized when auditors found it short of capital; Vulnerability to the rise and fall of the markets due to the reliance of the banks on lending for revenue; What the banks need to do to retain growth.

Reports that Standard and Poor has raised the outlook for some large banks in Japan from negative to stable.

Reports that ratings agency Moody's Investors Service is considering an upgrading to the credit ratings of Resona Bank and Saitama Resona Bank in Japan.

Reports on the expected losses of Japanese bank Resona Holdings Inc. in the year to March 2004. Bank's writeoff of the bulk of its nonperforming loans; Number of jobs to be cut.

Discusses brief business news items from around the world. Australian Reserve Bank rate change due to growing consumer debt and increase in home loans; Fall in profits at the Japanese toy maker, the Bandai Company; Possible merger of Thailand's largest financing company, National Finance, with an affiliate, Thanachart Bank; Increase in Brazilian industrial output possibly signaling a recovering economy; Profits at France's largest bank, BNP Paribas; Plan that would place sanctions on a wide range of American imports in March by the European Commission.

Outlines the Bank of Japan's bi-annual outlook report. Projected economic growth in Japan; Percentage decline in consumer prices; Central bank's plan to continue its policy of achieving a zero short-term interest rate; Impact of premature increase of interest rates on banks.

Presents business news briefs from around the world. Raise in Hong Kong's foreign-currency debt rating; Increase in profits for Japan's Sega Corporation; Fidelity Investments which increases its stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group; Jump in profits for India's Reliance Industries; Collapse of German charter airline, Aero Lloyd; Bank chief named at WestLB in Germany; Acceptance of bid to buy Inmarsat Ventures in Britain; Upturn in sales for France's Group Danone; Others.

Reports on steps taken in Japan to address several of its economic and financial problems. Announcement by Bank of Japan that it would raise the amount of money it can pump into the markets; Effect that would have on the yen; Pledge by Prime Minister, Junchiro Koizumi, to clean up the banking system; Nationalization of Resona Holdings; Other financial reforms and their influence on the Japanese Stock Market.

Announces that the Goldman Sachs Group will set up an investment fund to buy as much as $9.1 billion in nonperforming loans from the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Purchase as an effort by a foreign firm to help a Japanese banks strengthen its balance sheet; Hopes that Goldman Sachs will make a profit by rehabilitating the borrowers; Repackaging of the loans into potentially lucrative investments.

Discusses the Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial group and its doubling of profit expectations for the year. Mending of the economy and its reduction of the number of bad loan's in the company's portfolio; Emergence of this brighter forecast after Japan's major banks lost record amounts in the last two years; Belief that other banks will follow Mitsubishi Tokyo's lead.

Reports on the acceptance of Heizo Takenaka to continue as Japan's banking czar. Signs of a revival in the banking industry started by Takenaka a year ago; Engineering of the bailout of the Resona Bank which helped ignite a rebound in stock prices; Methods taken to reform a reluctant industry.

Reports that Toshihiko Fukui, the governor of the Bank of Japan, announced that the central bank will maintain its monetary policies. Consideration of expectations from investors regarding the value of short-term interest rates; Impact of high rates of unemployment in Japan; Rise in long-term yields; Decline of the consumer price index; Value of the Nikkei.

Presents news briefs related to international business and finance as of August 29, 2003. Decision of Standard & Poor's to raise the credit of Aozora Bank in Japan; Release of a financial statement by German reinsurance company Munich Re, which reported a fifth consecutive quarterly loss; Announcement by French retailer Carrefour that its first-half, 2003, profit rose compared with the same period, 2002; Others.

Presents world news briefs relating to business and finance as of August 19, 2003. Increase in unemployment in Hong Kong; Rise in shares of ABB Ltd. of Switzerland, Europe's largest maker of power-transmission equipment; Addition of the Westpac Banking Corporation in talks to buy the New Zealand banking unit of Lloyds TSB Group; Others.

Presents world news briefs relating to business and finance as of August 6, 2003. Profit for Japan's Nintendo Company, maker of the GameCube home console; Resignation of Mike Metcalf, Great Britain's Burberry Group's chief operating officer and finance head; Profit rise for Brazilian private bank Itau; Others.

Presents world news briefs relating to business, as of August 5, 2003. Plans of French electrical engineering company Alstom to refinance; Loss posted by Chohung Bank in South Korea; Production cuts by Volkswagen de México; Others.

Examines Japan's economy, in light of the revival of its stock market. Doubts of investors; Structural problems; Dependence of manufacturers on overseas markets; Consumer spending; Mixed signals of policy makers, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi; Approach of Toshihiko Fukui, the Bank of Japan's governor; Bank loans; Outlook for recovery; Fears of analysts.

Discusses the value of the Japanese stock market as a result of foreign mutual funds, hedge funds, and other institutional overseas investors. Market value of the Nikkei 223 index; Impact of consumer confidence on stocks; Value of blue chips such as Matsushita Electric Industrial and Honda Motor; How the Japanese government wants Japanese banks and insurers to reduce their holdings.

Presents world news briefs relating to business as of June 25, 2003. Initial public offering by Indonesia's government-owned Bank Mandiri; Strike at vehicle manufacturer Hyundai Motor of South Korea; Plans to cut jobs and fleet at Switzerland's national carrier, Swiss International Air Lines; Others.

Reports that Heizo Takenaka, Japan's top financial regulator, is preparing to return to academia, in the expectation that he may be forced out of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government. Career background, which includes university posts and professorships; Possible impact of Takenaka's departure on Japan's economy; Takenaka's stance on banks, which have resisted change; Fears of lawmakers regarding Takenaka's banking reform proposals; Questions concerning his departure.

Assesses the financial status of several banks in Japan, as of May 26, 2003.

Reports that, despite the general crisis in Japanese banking, some midsize regional banks in Japan are making money. Examples of smaller banks, including Shizuoka Bank, Bank of Yokohama and the Bank of Fukuoka, that have much stronger balance sheets and loan books than the well-known giants, which remain plagued with bad loans and investment losses five years after the government spent $80 billion to bail them out; Claims that the performance of smaller banks highlights a flaw in the government's strategy of dealing with the industry's weakness by urging banks to merge; Details of new mergers and bailouts; Details of earnings reports by regional banks.

Focuses on efforts by Japanese policy makers to boost the economy and calm investors unnerved by a major bank bailout. Cash infusion from the Bank of Japan; Study by financial regulators of a proposal to permit the government to inject public money into struggling banks; Concerns over the insolvency of banking group Resona Holdings; Sense of urgency in dealing with financial institutions; Role of Japan's chief financial regulator, Heizo Takenaka; Japan's growth outlook.

Discusses the response of Japanese to the news that Resona Holdings, one of the country's biggest bank groups, would ask for an infusion in tax money. News that did not affect the people of Japan because the government is prepared to use its power to print money and rewrite regulations to guarantee that Resona's depositors and borrowers lose little money; Cost of the government's strategy; Economist and analysts who argue that the government has created a moral hazard; Belief that the strategy is inflicting greater economic pain on the economy as a whole; Fall of Japanese stocks.

Reports on the application of banking group Resona Holdings for a government bail out in Japan in May 2003.

Reports that the Bank of Japan will flood the markets with more cash and expand the collateral that it accepts for loans. Discussion of the economic conditions in Japan; Actions take by the central bank's new governor, Toshihiko Fukui, to stimulate Japan's economy; Statement issued by the central bank's policy board with respect to the declines in the stock market and the impact those declines have on the banking industry in Japan; Amount of yen the bank will now keep in the market.

Reports that the Bank of Japan would consider taking the unconventional step of buying corporate debt to make it easier for small companies to borrow, and in the process battle deflation, as of April 2003. How the announcement is the latest in a series of moves by the central bank's governor, Toshihiko Fukui, responding to pressure from the government to do more to shore up Japan's frail economy; Demonstration by Fukui that he is much more willing than his predecessor, Masaru Hayami, to work with lawmakers and to tinker with the central bank's policies; Attention placed on the plight of small companies in Japan, which have been particularly hard hit by the five-year decline in consumer prices and which tend to be the first customers cut off by banks that are retrenching to clean up their own balance sheets.

Reports on the decision of Japan's Financial Services Agency to give Japanese banks more time to solve their financial problems as of April 5, 2003.

Reports that the Bank of Japan will buy stocks from lenders to stabilize financial markets. Financial markets that have been unnerved by war with Iraq; Regulators who are requiring banks to revalue their stock portfolios.

Reports on the proposals introduced by Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party meant to improve economic conditions and its effect on the banking industry. Details of proposals including the roll back of harsh financial policies imposed on the banks and the government's budget; Impact the economy may have on elections.

Reports that the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group of Japan has made a bid for the Softbank Corp.'s 49 percent stake in Aozora Bank. Efforts of Cerberus Partners to purchase the bank; Speculation about the price of Sumitomo Mitsui's bid; Efforts of Softbank to sell the stake to raise cash to support its growing Internet operations and to pay off debt.

Presents world news briefs relating to business and finance, as of March 5, 2003. Decline in Japan's Shinsei Bank's bad loans; Profits for the Irish building materials conglomerate CRH; Failure of Bombardier, Canadian maker of commuter jets and railroad equipment, to meet its earnings and cash flow targets; Others.