Market Chatter -- Corporate finance press digest

BANGALORE Dec 21 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Monday:

* Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) has narrowed the bidders for its commodities trading joint venture to three and will announce a winner within weeks, the Sunday Times reported, citing sources close to the negotiations. [ID:nLDE5BJ0AU]

* China's securities regulator may block Bank of China's (601988.SS)(3988.HK) plan to raise capital via equity and the bank may have to issue bonds to beef up its capital adequacy ratio, a newspaper said. [ID:nTOE5BK02K]

* The London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) is close to agreeing a deal to take control of loss-making trading platform rival Turquoise, The Sunday Telegraph reported, citing sources close to the deal. [ID:nLDE5BJ0CB]

* U.S private equity firm Apollo [APOLO.UL] has approached British bookmaker and bingo group Gala Coral with a rescue proposal, according to The Sunday Times, citing sources familiar with the plans. [ID:nLDE5BJ0DF]

* Google Inc (GOOG.O) is in talks to buy Yelp Inc, the popular website for reviews of local businesses, in a deal that could help the Internet search leader tap a lucrative local ads market, media reports said on Friday. [ID:nN18246352]

* A Rembrandt painting that sold for a record $33.2 million last week at Christie's in London was bought by U.S. casino mogul Steve Wynn, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the transaction. [ID:nN18131131] (Compiled by Tresa Sherin Morera)