Finance news. My opinion.

A tax credit meant to help millions of small businesses afford health coverage for their employees was claimed by only 170,300 last year, a government watchdog has found.

The Government Accountability Office report, made public this week, is the latest to highlight the shortcomings of the tax credit, which has been criticized for being too weak and complex.

The report noted that only a fraction of those eligible have used the assistance. Between 1.4 million and 4 million small businesses were eligible for the tax credit, according to GAO.

The tax credit, enacted as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, is aimed at defraying the high cost of health coverage. It is available to companies that have 25 or fewer workers, pay average salaries of $50,000 or less and cover at least half of employee health insurance premiums.

Health care reform isn’t a job killer - yet

Many small employers have told CNNMoney that they found the tax credit program to be too confusing — and often too costly — to be worth the accounting endeavor.

So many small firms are forgoing the extra cash that $20 billion dollars meant to go to small businesses over the next decade won’t be distributed, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The GAO report noted the credit "was not large enough to incentivize employers to begin offering insurance." According to the report, the average credit was $2,700.

Worse still, company owners were deterred from making claims because of the confusing way the credit is calculated online payday loan lenders. The formula includes odd features, such as counting some workers as 1/15th of an employee and reducing federal help if a firm insures more workers.

The GAO suggested that the Internal Revenue Service revise its procedures and take a softer approach with companies that make mistakes on credit applications.

Included in the report was a response from IRS Deputy Commissioner Steven Miller, who agreed with some suggestions but said his agency had conducted "significant outreach" to small businesses.

President Obama has also suggested changes that would simplify and expand the tax credit for businesses this year.

A Treasury Department spokesperson on Tuesday noted that new tax credits take some time to gain popularity and that the IRS plans to ramp up outreach.

Treasury had previously told CNNMoney that nearly 309,000 small businesses received the credit for 2010 as of late last year. That number counted individual partners at firms, not actual employers.

It is possible the entire tax credit program could be scrapped depending on how the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the case challenging the 2010 law’s constitutionality. A ruling is expected next month. 

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State media say police have arrested four senior executives at a major state-owned shipping company for alleged mismanagement.

Online VnExpress says Duong Chi Dung, former chairman of Vietnam National Shipping Lines, or Vinalines, and three other executives were detained Friday for allegedly causing losses of $80 million from 2009-2010 after purchasing old ships and making poor investments.

Dung was promoted in February to head the government’s Maritime Department no fax pay day loan.

The arrests come more than a month after nine senior executives of another major state-owned company, the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industrial Group, or Vinashin, were given lengthy jail sentences following a scandal that resulted in the lowering of Vietnam’s credit rating.

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Legally speaking, you are anyways entitled to one 100% free credit report every year.

Spain managed to auction nearly (EURO)2.5 billion ($3.18 billion) in medium-term debt amid strong demand but at sharply higher interest rates reflecting concerns that the country will be caught up in the fallout of the Greek crisis.

The Treasury sold three kinds of notes Thursday, two maturing in 2015 and one in 2016. Of them only one was strictly comparable to previous sales and the interest rate, or yield, on that three-year bond went up to 4.87 percent, from 4 fast payday loan no faxing.04 percent on May 3.

On the secondary market, the interest rate on Spanish 10-year bonds stood at 6.28 percent. The spread _ the difference between it and the yield on safe-haven German bunds _ was 481 basis points.

Spain’s Ibex 35 stock index was virtually unchanged in early trading.

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Investors are getting increasingly worried about whether Greece will remain in the eurozone. And they should.

There are a series of upcoming events that could spell the end of a deal, put in place nearly three months ago, to restructure Greece’s debt under strict terms dictated by the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank, known as the troika.

"The threat from Greece remains real, and Greece exiting the euro area would likely have contagion effects that cannot easily be addressed in the current set-up," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts in a note Monday. "The next weeks are crucial."

Greece has been struggling under a mountain of debt, as it tries to push through unpopular austerity measures and get its economy on solid footing. Without a cohesive government, that battle just got tougher.

Here’s what next in the Greek political drama, and what it could mean for the rest of Europe and the global economy.

Where do things stand after last week’s national elections? There is still no party that has been able to form a new government. The two parties from the previous ruling coalition that supported austerity and the debt deal, New Democracy and Pasok, only have 149 seats between them and 151 are needed.

So far, none of the other parties are willing to join them, given Greek voters’ anger over the harsh austerity measures.

If Greek President Karolos Papoulias is not able to bring together a new ruling coalition by Thursday, he is expected to call for another round of voting, likely in mid-June.

What is likely to happen if new elections are held in June? Recent polls and various experts seem to agree that the Coalition of the Radical Left, also known as Syriza, would be the top vote getter in the next round. Syriza has gained solid support since finishing second in last week’s round of voting.

If it can form a majority coalition with other anti-austerity parties, that would leave Greece with a government opposed to the earlier deals made with the EU, IMF and ECB, which has to approve funds for Greece that would allow the government to pay its bills and make its bond payments.

Whether the June election result would lead to a disorderly default and a Greek exit from the euro is far less clear.

"Even Syriza is not really interested in getting out of the euro. Their primary focus is to renegotiate the bailout package," said Dimitri Papadimitriou, economics professor and expert on Greece from Bard College.

But without financial support from the so-called troika, it will be tough for Greece to meet its financial obligations.

Can Greece stop paying its bills and still stay in the eurozone? That is the biggest unknown, and probably the biggest worry for markets.

Elisabeth Afseth, fixed income analyst for Investec Bank in London, said if Greece stops paying its bills, that will mean the end of the funding it so desperately needs. If that happens, it won’t have much choice but to start issuing its own currency to pay its ongoing bills.

How Greece can stay in eurozone

But Papadimitriou said that other European leaders are also loath to have Greece exit the euro, due to the shock it might cause for the continent’s already-fragile financial system 100% free credit score. Therefore, he said, it is possible, albeit unlikely, that there could be yet another new deal even if Greece stops paying what it owes.

"I would expect the European finance ministers’ meeting to have intense discussions this week," he said. "The best case for keeping Greece within the euro would be for the rest of Europe to be proactive in trying to come up with a renegotiated deal suitable for all parties. But I’m not optimistic."

What’s the best case scenario for Greece leaving the euro? In the best case, the ECB steps in and contains the so-called contagion effect.

While the central bank’s drumbeat has been to not be the lender of last resort, it has also made it clear that it would do everything in its power to keep the crisis from spreading.

Greek euro exit won’t mean tragedy

A dozen European countries are already in recession but thanks to Germany’s surprise growht, the entire EU and eurozone managed to stave off recession in the first quarter.

Even in this best case scenario, one in which measures to prop up the non-Greek sovereign debt work, the austerity measures needed to pay for them would send the remaining countries of the eurozone and EU into an even deeper, more prolonged downturn.

Yields could soar on government debt for Portugal and Ireland, let alone much larger economies like Spain and Italy, vastly increasing the costs for the remaining European governments that are paying for various bailouts.

That would also weigh on the already slowing growth in both the United States and Asia.

How bad could things get? Things could be worse than that — far worse.

"I don’t think anyone at the present time can quantify the contagion effect of a disorderly exit of Greece from the eurozone," said Papadimitriou. "No one can predict the markets. They have a mind of their own.

In a worst-case scenario, the Greek exit prompts other countries to leave the euro, as voters there follow Greek voters’ lead and rebel against austerity measures.

"As it stands now, there’s no precedence for leaving," said Afseth. "If Greece leaves, all of sudden there is precedent."

If larger countries follow Greece out of eurozone, it could cause a meltdown in the European banking sector, which holds billions of euros of sovereign debt of the other troubled economies, as well as private sector loans to consumers.

In turn, businesses in those countries would be unable to pay given their suddenly devalued currency.

While U.S. authorities have said U.S. banks have relatively limited exposure to European sovereign debt, the major banks here do have exposure to the European banking system, so a meltdown in European markets would be felt in the United States and around the globe. 

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We have to hope at this moment that JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), America

U.S. stocks ended mixed Thursday afternoon as investors welcomed a slight dip in jobless claims but remained cautious amid ongoing uncertainty in Greece and the rest of Europe.

"The situation in Europe remains fluid, and we’re not likely to get much clarity for awhile, so today is one of those days when a lack of really bad news is good news," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial Group.

The Dow Jones industrial average () rose 20 points, or 0.2%, snapping a six-day losing streak, and the S&P 500 () added 3 points, or 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq () lost 1 point.

Cisco (, Fortune 500) was the biggest laggard on all three indexes, with shares tumbling more than 10%. Late Wednesday, the networking giant released a disappointing sales outlook for the current quarter.

Europe remains in the spotlight Thursday as Greek politicians continue to struggle to form a coalition government and Spanish bond yields keep rising.

After the Greek radical left party failed to gain consensus, Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos was given the mandate to form a coalition government by the Greek president on Thursday.

Greece will muddle through

Meanwhile, the Bank of Spain moved to take over Bankia — one of Spain’s largest and most troubled banks — late Wednesday.

U.S. stocks bounced back somewhat from a sharp sell-off Wednesday, but all three major indexes closed in the red as investors continued to fret about Greece and Spain.

World markets: European stocks closed with slim gains. Britain’s FTSE 100 () ticked up 0.3%, DAX () in Germany gained 0.7%, while France’s CAC 40 () rose 0.4%.

The Bank of England held its key interest rate steady and did not increase its asset-buying program at the conclusion of its two-day meeting Thursday, despite a recent report that showed the U.K. has fallen into a new recession.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite () closed 0.1% higher, while the Hang Seng () in Hong Kong slid 0.5% and Japan’s Nikkei () edged lower 0.4%.

China reported import and export growth that was slower than expected, according to forecasts from economists at HSBC. The report could stir new concerns from investors around the globe about a so-called hard landing for China’s economy, but HSBC said it is also likely to prompt further monetary policy easing by the People’s Bank of China.

Economy: The number of people filing for first-time unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell 1,000 to 367,000 in the latest week. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected the report to show 365,000 claims.

The U.S. trade deficit widened to $51.8 billion in March from $45.5 billion in February, according to the Commerce Department. The deficit was narrower than the $53 billion economists had expected.

The Treasury Department on Thursday recorded a $59 billion surplus for the month of May, marking the first time in more than three years that Washington took in more money than it paid out. Tax receipts were higher and spending lower than they were last April.

Companies: Beauty products company Avon (, Fortune 500) said that perfume-maker Coty raised its unsolicited bid for the company to $24.75 a share from its earlier offer of $23.25. Avon’s board said it will consider the offer. Shares of Avon declined.

Avon: Coty’s back with a higher bid

Department store chain Kohl’s (, Fortune 500) reported earnings per share of 63 cents, down from 69 cents a year earlier but still better than the forecast of 61 cents from analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. But the company gave earnings guidance for the current quarter that was below current forecasts, sending shares lower.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro and the British pound, but gained against the Japanese yen.

Oil for June delivery gained 27 cents to settle at $97.08 a barrel.

Gold futures for June delivery rose $1.30 to settle at $1,595.50 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 1.88% from 1.84% late Wednesday. 

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Singapore’s central bank tightened its monetary policy Friday by allowing for a stronger currency to combat the island’s stubbornly high inflation rate.

A jump in global oil prices since October has quickened inflation to near 5 percent in Singapore, which imports all of its fuel. A stronger Singapore dollar would lower the prices of imports while possibly making the country’s exports less competitive.

Unlike most central banks, The Monetary Authority of Singapore uses currency, rather than a benchmark lending rate, to help control money supply. The bank’s statement Friday indicated it would allow the Singapore dollar to rise at a faster rate.

The shift in policy will likely speed the rate of appreciation by one percentage point to between 2 percent and 3 percent a year, said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, director of Asian economics at Credit Suisse in Singapore.

Besides Singapore and Indonesia, policymakers in Asia will likely hold steady or ease monetary policy amid concern about slowing economic growth, Prior-Wandesforde said.

“We doubt Singapore’s monetary tightening move will be replicated in Asia this year,” he said. “The crucial difference is the fact that Singapore inflation is comparatively high.”

The central bank also raised its inflation forecast for this year by one percentage point to between 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent.

“Inflation has come in stronger than expected since October and will remain elevated over the next few months,” the central bank said in its biannual monetary policy statement. “External inflationary pressures are likely to be sustained, largely due to higher oil prices.”

The central bank sets a trading range for the Singapore dollar though doesn’t publicly disclose the details. It intervenes to keep the currency inside the trading band.

The government also released first quarter preliminary growth figures Friday based on data mostly from January and February. The city-state’s economic growth slowed to 1.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the trade and industry ministry said. The government is forecasting growth of 1 percent to 3 percent this year, down from 4.9 percent last year.

However, compared with the fourth quarter, the economy expanded a seasonally adjusted, annualized 9.9 percent and avoided a recession after falling 2.5 percent in the October to December period. Manufacturing, led by pharmaceuticals and electronics, rebounded strongly in the first quarter from a contraction in the fourth, buoyed by better than expected global demand.

Construction and services also improved compared with the fourth quarter.

“Today’s message is clear: Singapore is reaccelerating,” DBS bank said in a report.

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ST. LOUIS  Former Missouri Gov. Roger Wilson and a St. Louis lawyer were indicted on a federal misdemeanor charge late Wednesday for allegedly laundering campaign contributions to the Missouri Democratic Party through a St. Louis law firm, the U.S. Attorney’s office said Thursday morning.

State campaign finance records show that the contributions, $5,000 on Aug. 28, 2009, and $3,000 on Dec. 22, 2009, were from the Herzog Crebs law firm in St. Louis to the Missouri Democratic State Committee.

But Wednesday’s indictment says that the $8,000 actually came from a state-created workers’ compensation company, Columbia-based Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance Co., and Wilson.

They were made at the direction of former MEM board member Doug Morgan and with the knowledge and approval of Wilson, the indictment says, and came through former Herzog partner Ed Griesedieck, who was also indicted. Herzog was repaid for the $5,000 contribution by billing MEM for legal work. The $3,000 contribution was billed to Morgan, but Wilson eventually wrote a personal check to cover the contribution and MEM’s in-house counsel learned of the political contribution.

The other MEM board members did not know about or approve the contributions, the indictment says.

The criminal charge, misappropriation of money by someone in the insurance business, carries a potential penalty of up to a year in prison, but both men will likely face no more than probation and perhaps a fine.

The indictment sheds light on a mystery that has surrounded Wilson for nearly a year.

Since June 2011, when he was ousted as CEO, Wilson has refused to talk about the matter. That silence contrasted with his two decades in public office, when he was known as a straight-shooter who was always quick with a quip.

The indictment is the latest scandal for Columbia-based Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance Co., the state-created workers’ compensation firm that has endured a year of setbacks to its public image.

Two former board members were indicted separately last year for alleged theft and fraud involving other organizations. The company’s former chairman, Doug Morgan, resigned in May, and questions mounted in June when the company forced out its chief executive officer, Wilson, without explanation.

Chuck Hatfield, a longtime political adviser to Gov. Jay Nixon, was retained by Missouri Employers Mutual to help manage the crisis. Jim Owen, a former law school classmate of Nixon, became the CEO.

During Wilson’s tenure, the state-sponsored insurance company made at least one political donation to Jay Nixon’s gubernatorial campaign, even though the governor controls the 5-member board of Missouri Employers Mutual by appointing three of the insurer’s board members.

According to the Missouri Ethics Commission, the firm contributed $4,000 to the “Jay Nixon for Missouri” committee on Dec. 30, 2008. The contribution was made after Nixon’s election but before he took office in January 2009.

A recent state audit took issue with Missouri Employers Mutual’s spending practices, but did not dwell on its political contributions. However, the audit noted that company funds since 2003 were used for $8,000 in political contributions to the Missouri Democratic Party; $7,400 in cash and in-kind donations to the Missouri Insurance Coalition Political Action Committee; and $4,000 in donations to gubernatorial inaugural festivities in 2005 and 2009.

State Auditor Tom Schweich portrayed a company that operates like a private entity, handing out hefty bonuses to employees, while enjoying federal tax-exempt status and other advantages that its private competitors lack.

The company was created by the Legislature in 1993 in response to a crisis in the state’s insurance industry, when small businesses struggled to afford workers’ compensation coverage business card design. As an “independent public corporation,” the firm has avoided about $50 million in federal taxes since its founding, which has enabled it to accumulate a surplus of $163 million and become the state’s leading workers’ compensation provider.

The insurer paid about $1.58 million in severance benefits or settlement payments to four former top executives and employees who either resigned or who left the company in 2009 and 2010, the auditor found. The firm also has bankrolled lavish business jaunts to Hawaii and Mexico, along with sports tickets and suites for its board members, executives, employees and guests.

Amid state lawmakers’ questions about the company’s large surplus and tax-exempt status, Missouri Employers Mutual recently decided to pay its first dividend to members

Griesedieck’s firm worked for Missouri Employers Mutual, but he had another connection.

He also represented a development company in a failed bid for a casino in north St. Louis County.

Last year, federal prosecutors claimed in an indictment that MEM board member and former chairman of the St. Louis County Planning Commission Doug Morgan told at least two friends he was a secret partner in the development company, North County Development LLC.

POLITICAL PAST

Politics ran in Wilson’s family.

Wilson was an assistant elementary school principal in Columbia in 1976 when friends persuaded him to run for Boone County collector, an office his father had held. Wilson’s grandfather had been Boone County sheriff when he was killed in a gunbattle with bank robbers in 1933.

Roger Wilson moved to the state Senate in 1979. Education and law enforcement were his focus, along with the state budget. He headed the Appropriations Committee for six years.

He won his first statewide election in 1992, edging out State Auditor Margaret Kelly in the lieutenant governor’s race. He won re-election in 1996.

Wilson was expected to run for governor in 2000 but dropped that quest in March 1998, citing a distaste for raising the millions of dollars needed for the campaign and a desire to spend more time with his family.

Wilson was nearing the end of his term as lieutenant governor in October 2000, when Gov. Mel Carnahan was killed in a plane crash. Wilson took over as governor for three months, until Democrat Bob Holden was inaugurated.

After leaving the Capitol, Wilson worked for a money management firm. He served as the Missouri Democratic Party’s chairman from 2004 to 2007.

The county government building in Columbia is named after him. A statute of him stands outside the building.

Griesedieck’s profile has been removed from the Herzog website, and a reporter was told Wednesday that he was no longer with the firm.

In his 2008 profile, the firm said that Griesedieck was a partner and member of the firm’s management committee and did corporate and real estate work and acted as general counsel for a number of medium and large corporations throughout the Midwest.

He also is a former city attorney and prosecuting attorney for several St. Louis County communities and hosted the “Ask the Attorney” program on KMOX for 20 years.

He graduated from Notre Dame and St. Louis University Law School, the site says.

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A U.K. house-price index rose to a 21-month high in March as first-time buyers sought to take advantage of an expiring property-tax exemption, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said.

The gauge rose 3 points from February to minus 10, the highest reading since June 2010, according to a report today e- mailed by London-based RICS, which conducts a monthly survey of property surveyors nationwide. Still, a reading below zero shows more surveyors saw price drops than gains last month.

The figures reflect Britons taking advantage of a two-year stamp-duty exemption for first-time buyers purchasing a home costing less than 250,000 pounds ($400,000) before it ended on March 24. A continuation of this year

After a battle lasting almost two years, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has knuckled under to the Indian government, giving security forces in that country access to private instant messages.

Experts say the change, first reported in the newsmagazine India Today, could lead to similar access for other spy agencies and government bodies around the world