(Reuters) - A New York state banking regulator said on Thursday that it had reached a pact with Goldman Sachs Group Inc on foreclosure processes that will allow the planned sale of its Litton Loan Servicing LP to continue. In an agreement with New York financial-services superintendent Benjamin Lawsky, Goldman, Litton and Ocwen Financial Corp agreed to stop a practice known as "robosigning," in which bank employees signed foreclosure documents without reviewing case files as required by law.

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(Reuters) - Many top U.S. retailers reported better-than-expected August sales, withstanding Hurricane Irene and sagging consumer confidence. Analysts expect the 24 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters to post a 4.6 percent gain in August sales at stores open at least a year.

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(Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon's (BK.N) Chief Executive Robert Kelly stepped down in a surprise move, because of what the company said was "differences in approach to managing the company." BNY Mellon, one of the largest trust and custody banks, did not elaborate on why Kelly, 57, was stepping down. The bank did say the decision was a mutual agreement with the bank's board. A biography still posted on BNY Mellon's website noted that Kelly "was named one of America's Best CEO's for 2009" by Institutional Investor magazine.

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(Reuters) - The Justice Department made a bold move when it sued to block AT&T Inc's $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile. Now comes the hard part: going to court. The government is asking a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to stop the deal, and will have to prove that it would mean higher prices and less competition.

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(Reuters) - A debt crisis is still gripping the developed world, European Central Bank policymaker Juergen Stark said, adding there was no alternative but for countries to take painful steps to consolidate their public finances. "The crisis is not over. Not just in Europe is it not over, it is also not over in other regions of the world," he said, adding the United States had an "enormous" debt problem and lacked the structures to get the problem under control.

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(Reuters) - Stocks fell on Tuesday after data showed a sharp drop in consumer confidence, heightening worries about economic growth. Financial stocks were among the top decliners, with the S&P financial index .GSPF down 1.4 percent. Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) dropped 2.4 percent to $8.19 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) was off 1.4 percent to $37.10, weighing on the Dow average as the biggest decliners.

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(Reuters) - U.S. single-family home prices fell slightly during June in the latest sign the country's struggling economic recovery will not be able to count on any help from a moribund housing sector. The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas slipped 0.1 percent from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis. A Reuters poll of economists had expected prices to be unchanged.

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(Reuters) - Consumer confidence crumbled in August to its lowest level in more than two years as the fallout from political wrangling over a budget deal took its toll, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday. The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes sank to 44.5 from a downwardly revised 59.2 the month before. The index was well off a poll of economists by Reuters for a reading of 52.0. The index was at the lowest level since April 2009, the report said. July was originally reported as 59.5.

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(Reuters) - Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said on Tuesday he favored strong central bank accommodation for a substantial period of time, as the U.S. economy looks to be moving "sideways." Evans told CNBC television he favored some of the most aggressive policy actions now being considered to boost the economic recovery and said that the U.S. Federal Reserve needed to clarify its policy intentions to get better results.

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(Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc will ask a bankruptcy judge on Tuesday to let creditors vote on its $65 billion payout plan, a key step toward ending the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history. The investment bank, under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since September 2008, will present its plan outline at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. If Judge James Peck deems the outline sufficient, creditors will vote on the plan on November 4.

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