Refund threat
H&R Block had its fi nance unit downgraded by Moody’s Investors Services as a legal dis pute with HSBC Hold ings threatens the com pany’s ability to offer customers refund-antic ipation loans next year.
Cuomo seeks
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wants a judge to rule without trial that financier Ezra Merkin and his Gabriel Capital Corp. engaged in fraud for secretly placing cli ent funds with Ponzi king Bernard Madoff. Cuomo sued Merkin in 2009 for steering $2.4 billion to Madoff in ex change for $470 million in fees.
Netflix profit
Netflix, the mail- order and online mov ie-rental service, re ported third-quarter profit rose 26 percent to $38 million on reve nue of $553 million, as subscriptions jumped.
EA’s game
Electronic Arts has snapped up for less than $20 million Chillingo, the publisher behind the pop ular iPhone game of the moment, “Angry Birds.” But the deal doesn’t in clude the company that created the game and owns the rights to it, Rovio Mobile.