A leading shareholder in EADS, which is the parent of Airbus, also said that it would have to review the consequences of the potential merger before making a decision about the deal. If completed, the deal would create an industry giant with a combined market value of almost $50 billion.
Shares in EADS fell nearly 8 percent as of midday in Paris, while stock in BAE Systems, which is listed in London, dropped 6.6 percent.
Treasury Backs Preliminary Standard Chartered Settlement  | Treasury Department lawyers have recommended a preliminary settlement with Standard Chartered that would allow the British bank to pay a penalty to state and federal prosecutors and move beyond accusations that it disobeyed laws governing money transfers, reports Jessica Silver-Greenberg in The New York Times.
A potential prepayment amount that the lawyers approved this week will be smaller than the $340 million the bank had to pay to New York State's banking regulator in a related case, three officials with direct knowledge of the settlement talks told The Times.
The Times notes that the smaller penalty is due to determinations by federal authorities and Manhattan prosecutors that the bank's suspected wrongdoing wa s far less extensive than what the state regulator claimed. It is also smaller because the bank came forward voluntarily with information, law enforcement officials said.
NEW YORK TIMES
What to Look for From the Fed  | The Wall Street Journal's Jon Hilsenrath outlines four issues that Federal Reserve policy-makers face, as they prepare to announce on Thursday a plan to get the economy going.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
DealBook '
Obama Becomes More Dependant on Big-Money Donors  | Among Mr. Obama's biggest “bundlers†are Jay Snyder, a principle at HBJ Investments in New York, who has raised at least $560,000, and Azita Raji, a retired investment banker who has raised over $3 million for the president, more than anyone else over the last two years, The New York Times reports.
NEW YORK TIMES
Thai Billionaire Makes $7.3 Billion Offer for Fraser & Neave  | The Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's all-cash bid may scuttle Heineken's plan to buy Asia Pacific Breweries, a business it jointly owns with Fraser & Neave.
DealBook '
Dole in Talks to Sell 2 Businesses to Itochu of Japan  | Dole Food is in advanced talks to sell its packaged foods and Asian fresh fruit businesses to Itochu, a Japanese trading house.
DealBook '
Abercrombie Hires Goldman  | Abercrombie & Fitch has retained Goldman Sachs as an adviser as the troubled clothier assesses potential responses to moves by one of its investors, the activist hedge fund Relational Investors, a person briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.
DealBook '
DealBook '
TheStreet to Buy The Deal for $5.8 Million  | TheStreet has agreed to acquire The Deal, publisher of a longtime bible of the mergers industry, from the investment firm that manages money for the estate of the late Bruce Wasserstein and other investors.
DealBook '
European Banks Still Tied to Iran  | The Wall Street Journal reports: “At least several European banks tha t vowed to stop doing business with Iran have kept handling billions of euros in transactions for Iranian entities and foreign companies with operations there, a review of regulatory filings and other documents by The Wall Street Journal shows.â€
WALL STREET JOURNAL
JPMorgan Reshuffles Its Operations Again  | In an internal memo circulated on Wednesday, the bank said it would break its corporate and investment banking division into two units.
DealBook '
Nomura Americas Executive Said to Leave  | Ciaran O'Kelly, who was hired from Bank of America to run Nomura's equities operations in New York, is leaving the Japanese bank, Bloomberg News reports.
DealBook '
Investors Hungry for European Corporate Bonds  | With borrowing costs low and with cash on hand, investors have the appetite and the ability to buy potentially as much as 60 billion euros ($77.13 billion) of new European corporate bonds over the next three months, The Wall Street Journal writes.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Goldman Analyst Headed to David Yurman  | Adrianne Shapira, a retail industry analyst at Goldman Sachs, is headed to the jewelry company David Yurman to be its chief financial officer.
DealBook '
Goldman Lawyer Joins Kirkland & Ellis  | Michael C. Keats left his job as a managing director in Goldman Sachs's legal department to become a litigat ion partner at Kirkland & Ellis this week, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Legg Mason Issues Stock to Interim Chief  | Legg Mason said a $3 million package of shares awarded to Joseph Sullivan, the interim chief executive, was part of a retention arrangement, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
Buyout Firms Circle an Auction Company  | Firms including K.K.R., Apollo Global Management and Clayton Dubilier & Rice are considering buying KAR Auction Services, a company that handles vehicle auctions, in a potentially $4 billion deal, Reuters reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
REUTERS
Tax Inquiry Said to Have Stemmed From Whistle-Blower  | The investigation by Eric T. Schneiderman, New York's attorney general, into private equity tax practices is founded on information provided by a whistle-blower, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Management Shake-Up at Sam Zell's Firm  | Gary Garrabrant, the chief executive and co-founder of Equity International, has left the real estate firm for undisclosed reasons, and Sam Zell, the firm's co-founder and chairman, has stepped in as interim chief executive, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Wilbur Ross Says Shipping Is H eating Up  | Mr. Ross, whose firm has recently invested in the sector, said this week that private equity, for the “first time,†was “seriously interested in shipping,†Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Ray Dalio Predicts Gloom for Southern Europe  | Mr. Dalio, who runs Bridgewater Associates, compared Europe to Latin America and Japan when he spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday, saying southern Europe would enter a “lost decade,†The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Moore Capital Said to Cut Jobs  | Moore Capital Management, which announced plans this year to return some capital to investors, shed 10 to 15 investment jobs this week, Bloomberg News reports, citing three unidentified people with knowledge of the matter.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Jana Partners Unloads Barnes & Noble Stake  | The activist hedge fund led by Barry Rosenstein sold the remainder of its Barnes & Noble position in August, after building a 12 percent stake, Forbes reports, citing regulatory filings.
FORBES
Hedge Fund Manager Backs a Stadium in Seattle  | Chris Hansen, the founder of Valiant Capital, is guaranteeing five years of debt payments on a $490 million arena being built in Seattle, AR Magazine reports. After the deal was struck, Mr. Hansen wrote a note on the Web site for the arena offering to “bu y you all a beer.â€
AR MAGAZINE
Judge Dismisses Insurer's Case Against Hedge Funds  | A federal judge in New Jersey threw out a six-year-old lawsuit in which Fairfax Financial Holdings claimed hedge funds spread false rumors to drive down its stock price, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
Underwriters Allow Some Lockups to Expire Early  | Increasingly, underwriters are allowing a company's early investors to sell their stock before the planned end of the lockup period, The Wall Street Journal reports. In some cases, offering documents include language making an early release possible.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Facebook Sued by University Over Patents  | A company that was founded to help the University of California commercialize patent technology has accused Facebook, along with Wal-Mart and the Walt Disney Company, of infringing on patents, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
Tribal Dispute Delays a New Zealand I.P.O. Â |Â The Maori tribes of New Zealand have claimed rights over water resources, pushing back a roughly $1.5 billion I.P.O. of Mighty River Power to next year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Investor Criticizes a Start-Up Incubator  | The b illionaire investor Vinod Khosla, who acts as a mentor to start-ups, singled out Y Combinator, the well-known incubator, saying it can produce companies with “so much hype that they get valuations that no one who will help the team are going to pay,†TechCrunch reports.
TECHCRUNCH
Tech Entrepreneurs Turn to Health Care  | A number of Silicon Valley start-ups see opportunities in providing services to the health care industry, The Financial Times writes. In tech parlance, it's an industry that could use some disruption.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Apple Retires a Social Music Service  | As it unveiled the new iPhone on Wednesday, Apple also announced that it would shut down Ping, its social music service, at the end of the mon th.
ALLTHINGSD
Lawmakers Delay Plans to Increase Oversight of Regulators  | Lawmakers postponed plans to advance a bill that could curb the influence of Wall Street regulators, a move that came as some federal officials mounted opposition to the effort.
DealBook '
Europe's Central Bank May Become Top Enforcer  | The European Central Bank is already the Continent's lender of last resort, but under a plan presented on Wednesday by the European Commission, it would also become the top banking regulator for the euro zone, The New York Times reports.
NEW YORK TIMES
British Banker Barred Over Role in Financial Crisis  | Peter Cummings, former head of corporate lending at HBOS, was barred from working in Britain's financial services sector and fined $805,000 for aggressive lending practices that eventually led to major losses at the British bank.
DealBook '
Civil Cases Said to Be Likely in MF Global Investigation  | Reuters reports: “Prosecutors investigating the collapse of failed commodities brokerage MF Global are close to wrapping up their criminal probe and are unlikely to file criminal charges, a move that could pave the way for regulators to bring civil cases, according to people familiar with the investigation.â€
REUTERS
Why A.I.G. May Not Be Able to Avoid the Vol cker Rule  | Robert H. Benmosche, A.I.G.'s chief executive, told CNBC that the insurance company was planning to sell a small bank it owned in an effort to shield the insurer from curbs on proprietary trading. But it is not as simple as that.
DealBook '
Madoff Employee Expected to Plead Guilty  | Irwin Lipkin, one of the longest-serving employees of Bernard L. Madoff, is appearing in Manhattan federal court on Thursday. Prosecutors told a judge Mr. Lipkin would plead guilty to criminal charges, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
Sometimes, It Takes a Thief to Catch One  | In spite of the $104 million whistle-blower award given to a convicted criminal this week, White Collar Watch notes that there isn't a perverse incentive to violate the law.
DealBook '
