UPDATE 1-Market Chatter -- Corporate finance press digest

(adds two items from Daily Telegraph)

LONDON Dec 29 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories involving U.S. and European companies were reported by media on Monday:

* Entertainment Rights ERT.L, the UK company behind television programmes including Postman Pat, has held talks with potential investors over injecting new equity in return for a significant stake, the Daily Telegraph said, without citing its sources.

* Britain's banks face up to 70 billion pounds of losses on commercial loans, enough to force some of them into a further round of taxpayer bailouts, the Telegraph said, citing forecasts from Close Brothers.

* Iceland's government could take stakes in well-known UK retailers including House of Fraser and Hamleys, under plans being drawn up as part of the country's reform of its collapsed financial system, the Financial Times reported.

* Iberia IBLA.MC, the Spanish airline plotting a 3.8 billion pounds all-share merger with British Airways BAY.L, is poised to raise fresh doubts over the terms on which it will strike a deal after commissioning a report from pension consultants Mercer, the Daily Telegraph said.

* Chinese exchanges raised just $22 billion in initial public offerings in 2008, meaning China will fall behind New York as the leading centre for IPOs for the first time since 2005, the FT said, citing Dealogic data.

* Chi-X, the equities trading platform, has raised 12 million pounds in fresh funding in the latest sign that rivals to Europe's incumbent stock exchanges are preparing for tougher trading conditions next year, the FT said.

* Imperial Energy IEC.L is closing in on the 90 percent level of acceptances it needs to seal its takeover by ONGC Videsh, part of Indian oil company ONGC (ONGC.BO), as a key deadline approaches, the FT reported.

* Dozens of social networking companies could fail next year as digital advertising slows and after the cost of storing electronic data has soared, the Daily Telegraph said, citing research from Deloitte.

* The Sunday Telegraph said Mervyn Davies, the chairman of Standard Chartered (STAN.L), has emerged as a shock candidate to be appointed chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L). RBS declined to comment. [ID:nLS181589]

(Compiled by Quentin Webb; Editing by Mike Nesbit and Hans Peters)