NEW YORK, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - US investment bank Bear Stearns said Wednesday it was merging two mortgage subsidiaries and eliminating 310 jobs to better deal with market conditions related to the ailing housing sector.

In the year to date, Bear Stearns has slashed its workforce in mortgage businesses by 40 percent in moves to weather a broader credit crunch stemming from a crisis in the subprime mortgage sector, where loans are given to people with patchy credit.

WASHINGTON, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Funds controlled by British billionaire Joseph Lewis have amassed a seven percent stake in Wall Street investment bank and brokerage Bear Stearns, a US securities filing showed Monday.

Bear Stearns share price has been dented over the past month after it was forced to wind down two loss-making hedge funds it managed. Its shares have also been knocked by global credit jitters tied to the US housing downturn.

WASHINGTON, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Investment funds controlled by British billionaire Joseph Lewis have amassed a seven percent stake in Wall Street investment bank and brokerage Bear Stearns, a US securities filing showed Monday.

Bear Stearns recently overhauled its top executive ranks after winding down two loss-making hedge funds it managed.

Lewis said in the filing that he had invested over 860 million dollars to acquire the stake.

NEW YORK, Aug 6, 2007 (AFP) - Wall Street investment bank and brokerage Bear Stearns overhauled its top management ranks at the weekend, but its shares continued to fall Monday amid concerns about its exposure to mortgage-related securities.

The bank's president and co-chief operating office Warren Spector announced his resignation from Bear Stearns on Sunday as the bank said it had appointed company veteran Alan Schwartz as its sole president.

NEW YORK, Aug 5, 2007 (AFP) - Senior executive Warren Spector announced his resignation from the investment banker Bear Stearns, shaken by troubles linked to the fraught US subprime mortgage market, the firm said Sunday.

'Warren J. Spector has resigned his positions of president and co-chief operating officer, member of the executive committee and member of the board of directors of Bear Stearns,' Chief Executive James Cayne said in a statement.