April 23 (Reuters) – The following are the top stories in
the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories
and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* CBOE Holdings Inc, the parent of the Chicago
Board Options Exchange, is considering whether to separate its
regulatory division after an ongoing federal probe over
potential conflicts of interest.()
* S&P; asked a judge to throw out the Justice Department’s
lawsuit against the company, deepening the battle over who bears
responsibility for billions of dollars in losses suffered by
investors during the financial crisis. ()
* The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) picked two
former federal prosecutors to share the job of enforcement chief
for the first time in the agency’s 79 year history.
Mary Jo White, the SEC’s new chairman, said one of her
former lieutenants, Andrew Ceresney of law firm Debevoise &
Plimpton LLP, will join acting SEC enforcement chief George
Canellos as co-director of the more-than-1,200-employee
division. ()
* For nearly five years, Ralph Lauren Corp employees
plied Argentine customs officials with dresses, perfume and cash
to accelerate the passage of merchandise into the South American
country, according to U.S. authorities, who said the company
will pay $1.6 million to resolve related investigations.
()
* Wal-Mart Stores plans to base some executive
compensation this year on whether the retailer successfully
overhauls its compliance operations, a process it began last
year amid a prove of bribery allegations in Mexico.
()
* Sprint Nextel said its board has formed a special
committee to evaluate a $25.5 billion acquisition offer from
Dish Network Corp. ()
* Bowing to regulators’ concerns about the size of executive
pay, seven large U.S. financial services firms are scaling back
the maximum bonuses awarded to executives who beat their
performance targets.
Financial services firms, including PNC Financial Services
Group, Capital One Financial Corp and Discover
Financial Services Inc said they are scaling back the
maximum bonuses awarded to executives who beat their performance
targets, according to regulatory filings.
BB&T; Corp, KeyCorp, U.S. Bancorp and
SunTrust Banks Inc are the other U.S. firms that cut
their maximum performance-based bonuses recently, according to a
study set to be released as early as Tuesday by pay-consulting
firm Compensation Advisory Partners. ()
