NEW YORK -- One of the biggest corporate casualties of the global credit crisis, Bear Stearns Cos., is about to vanish into history.

The moves could help investors frozen in the securities because of the credit crunch. A growing number of investment funds say they're stepping up plans to return cash to investors who have been stranded in so-called auction-rate preferred stock -- one of the recent casualties of the credit crunch.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - One of Germany's biggest financial groups, DZ Bank, joined the country's growing list of casualties from the subprime mortgage crisis on Thursday when it said the turmoil had forced it to make heavy writedowns.