PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - March 20

March 20 (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.

* JP Morgan Chase & Co was downgraded in a confidential government scorecard over concerns about the company's management and its board, a blow to a firm that has long been considered one of the best-run on Wall Street. ()

* Walgreen Co, Alliance Boots GmbH and AmerisourceBergen Corp are forming a partnership to distribute and sell prescription drugs, a move that could transform the way medications are purchased and shipped globally. ()

* Federal regulators are investigating Microsoft Corp's relationship with business partners that allegedly bribed foreign government officials in return for software contracts, according to people familiar with the matter. ()

* The European banks that own Visa Europe may soon decide to sell the credit-card organization to U.S.-based Visa Inc and set up a rival system in Europe. ()

* SABMiller Plc and Diageo Plc are in a race to target lower-income African drinkers. One of the main ways brewers are expanding market share in Africa: specially negotiated tax deals that help them keep prices low. ()

* Eclat Textile Co, the Taiwanese supplier to Lululemon Athletica Inc hit back saying the clothes it shipped weren't "problematic" after the yoga-clothes retailer blamed it for producing a shipment of pants that were unacceptably see-through. ()

* The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp, known as Freddie Mac, sued more than a dozen of the world's biggest banks for alleged manipulation of interest rates, in the first government-backed private litigation over the rate-rigging scandal. ()

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* Volkswagen AG will recall 384,181 vehicles sold in China due to gearbox problems, according to China's quality-control agency, following a critical television report that illustrates the power of state-run media over foreign brands. ()

* In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Brookfield Asset Management Inc is betting that it can put together the pieces of an investment that was undercut by the U.S. recession and drug wars. ()

* Executives for American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc on Tuesday defended their planned merger against claims from consumer advocates who said it could lead to higher fares, fewer regional routes and decreased competition. ()