Spain hires Goldman Sachs to value Bankia: report

MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish government has hired Goldman Sachs to carry out an independent valuation of Bankia , the ailing bank taken over by the state last week, Spanish newspaper Expansion said on Friday. The U.S. bank will review Bankia's and its parent company BFA's books and determine within a month how much the state should inject to refloat the lender, which had to be rescued after its auditor, Deloitte, identified several gaps in last year's accounts. ...

Euro zone market turmoil to last 12-24 months: German finance minister

PARIS (Reuters) - Market turmoil over the euro zone crisis could last another 12 to 24 months, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday, saying it was up to the Greeks to decide if they wanted to stay in the single currency. Schaeuble said he was confident France's new Socialist government would ratify Europe fiscal pact because policymakers were working on a strategy to improve growth, as demanded by French President Francois Hollande. "Regarding the crisis of confidence in the euro ... ...

Pepsi drops sponsorship of horse show after video of animal abuse
Soft drink maker Pepsi said on Thursday that it was dropping sponsorship of a prestigious national horse show, one day after ABC News broadcast footage of a horse in training for a show being beaten by a trainer. The Walking Horse National Celebration said that Pepsi had been a sponsor since 2010 of the nation's leading competition for Tennessee Walking Horses, a breed known for its high-stepping gait. "We have ended our sponsorship of the event," Pepsi spokesman Vincent Bozek said on Thursday without elaborating. ...

BNY Mellon, IRS spar over $900 million tax benefit
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon Corp faced off against the U.S. government on Thursday in closing arguments over a $900 million tax benefit that the Internal Revenue Service called "tax abuse." The case is the first to go to trial since the IRS accused some banks of generating artificial foreign tax credits through loans with London-based Barclays Plc . The tax benefit stems from a $1.5 billion loan to BNY Mellon from Barclays Plc , which also helped several other U.S. banks generate billions in foreign tax credits. Barclays has not been accused of any wrongdoing. ...

Verizon data fans to pay more in service or phones

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless plans to make its data-hungry customers pay a lot more, either in service fees or smartphone prices, as it tries to cut costs and boost revenue from data services. The No. 1 U.S. mobile provider said it will eliminate unlimited data plans for all customers who upgrade their cellphone at a discounted rate, potentially driving more business to its smaller rival Sprint Nextel . Only customers who pay full price for their cellphones will be able to keep unlimited data service plans for a flat monthly fee of $30 a month. ...