Business Headlines: Coakley Suing Banks; Talbots Ad Cuts

BOSTON (CBS) - The holiday shopping season is in full swing , but with all those sales to be made one company is actually cutting out its ad budget.

Hingham-based clothing chain Talbots admits sales are down, but the company is in the midst of a push to cut costs across the board; that includes spending on marketing.

Talbots revealed Thursday that its planning layoffs and store closures, as the business continues to struggle.

At the same time, there is word that there could be change coming at the top. The Wall Street Journal reports that Talbots is searching for a new CEO.

AG SUING NATIONAL BANKS

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is suing five major banks for how they conduct foreclosure proceedings. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Citi and Ally Financial are all named in the suit.

The lawsuit says those banks used deceptive practices, like false documentation and so-called "robo signing", where bank employees automatically signed off on thousands of loan requests without even reading them.

According to Coakley's suit, in some cases, the banks foreclosed on homes without holding the actual mortgage.

Lisa van der Pool reports

NEW CREDIT CARD TERMINAL

Plenty of people are using credit cards when paying for those holiday purchases. Starting next year you should be seeing a change at the cash register.

Leaf, a Cambridge startup, has created a new type of credit card terminal that is combined with a tablet computer. Among the innovations, the terminal will allow you to decline a paper receipt and leave comments after a transaction.

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal can be seen weekdays at 6 a.m. on WBZ-TV.