By Edward Taylor FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank's <DBKGn.DE> bosses tried to convince skeptical shareholders at a lively annual meeting on Thursday that the bank was on the right track again after facing a host of legal problems. Co-chief Executives Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen, who took charge nearly a year ago, are trying to steer Germany's largest bank through a major restructuring and resolve its many legal issues.

(Reuters) - Forest Laboratories Inc <FRX.N> said Howard Solomon, its chief executive of more than 35 years, will retire at the end of this year, capping a tenure that saw the company morph from a small generic and vitamins maker to a $10 billion corporation. Solomon will continue in the chairman role until the annual shareholder meeting in 2014, the company said.

SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- The ongoing investigation into CJ Group's slush fund allegations may hamper the local food and entertainment conglomerate's overseas business projects and lower its credit ratings, a report said Thursday. On Tuesday, prosecutors raided the headquarters and offices of the country's 14th largest conglomerate on suspicion of creating an overseas slush fund worth 7 billion won (US$6.2 million) and bringing the money into the country. The group is also accused of committing other illegal acts such as tax evasion.

By Aileen Wang and Koh Gui Qing BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May as new orders fell, a preliminary manufacturing survey showed, entrenching fears that its economic recovery has stalled and that a sharper cooldown may be imminent. The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for May fell to 49.6, slipping under the 50-point level demarcating expansion from contraction for the first since October and sending Asian financial markets sharply lower.