BUSINESS BRIEFS
Lead ban in toys signed into law
Advertiser news services
WASHINGTON — President Bush yesterday signed consumer-safety legislation that bans lead from children's toys, imposing the toughest standard in the world.
The new law prohibits lead, beyond minute levels, in products for children 12 or younger. Lead paint was a major factor in the recall of 45 million toys and children's items last year, many from China.
Both houses of Congress approved the bill by overwhelming margins two weeks ago.
TWO MORE BANKS SETTLE WITH N.Y.
NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley yesterday became the latest banks to reach settlements with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and other regulators as part of a investigation into the collapse of the auction-rate securities market.
The pair of banks will repurchase a combined $7 billion in the troubled securities at face value from investors. Morgan Stanley agreed to pay a fine of $35 million, while JPMorgan will pay a fine of $25 million.
JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are the third and fourth to reach settlements, following deals by UBS AG and Citigroup Inc. last week.
ICAHN'S ALLIES NOW ON YAHOO'S BOARD
Yahoo Inc. yesterday named former Viacom Inc. chief Frank Biondi Jr. and ex-Nextel Communications boss John Chapple to its board of directors, fulfilling a promise it made to settle a proxy fight with agitator-investor Carl Icahn.
Both men had been on a slate of candidates for the board Icahn put forward after Yahoo didn't get sold to Microsoft Corp. After it became likely that Icahn wouldn't win enough shareholder votes to win control of the board, he accepted a compromise that gave him one seat and let Yahoo pick two of his allies for additional seats.
STOCK OFFERING WILL PAY FOR FUEL
PHOENIX — US Airways Group Inc. sold nearly 22 million new shares yesterday to raise $179 million as it grapples with a projected $2 billion fuel bill this year.
The deal includes 19 million shares sold to Merrill Lynch & Co., which is the sole book-running manager for the deal, and another 2.85 million to underwriters, the carrier said.
It was not immediately clear if Merrill was the buyer for the additional shares or if there were other underwriters. US Airways spokesmen declined to comment on the offering and Merrill spokesmen were not immediately available.
Shares for the Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier dropped 25 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $8.86 after the New York Stock Exchange temporarily halted trading of the carrier's stock to distribute the new shares. Its stock stayed above the $8.50 per share that Merrill Lynch agreed to pay.
EX-APPLE COUNSEL SETTLES SEC SUIT
WASHINGTON — The former top attorney at Apple Inc. yesterday agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle federal regulators' charges that she altered records to conceal improper backdating of stock options for top executives including Steve Jobs.
The SEC announced the settlement with former Apple general counsel Nancy Heinen, whose civil trial in the case had been scheduled for next year. Heinen neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing in settling the SEC's lawsuit.
