PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - June 10
June 10 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* The Obama administration is dropping its plan to cap salaries at firms receiving government bailout money, leaving them subject to congressionally imposed limits on bonuses.
* The Justice Department has sent formal demands to publishers for information about a deal Google Inc (GOOG.O) struck with them to allow the search giant to make millions of books available online.
* An email sent under the name of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorney caused a commotion both at the SEC and outside it. The long message harshly criticized the agency's chairman and inspector general.
* The U.S. Treasury Department granted permission to 10 of the nation's largest financial institutions to repay $68 billion in government-bailout cash, showing that the industry is rebounding from losses that sank some firms and caused the world economy to buckle last year.
* Georgia is home to a disproportionate share of America's failed banks, and the carnage has resulted in an especially fierce fight for bailout funds.
* In an apparent crackdown on Internet gambling, federal authorities in New York have frozen or seized bank accounts worth $34 million belonging to 27,000 online poker players, according to representatives for the players and account holders.
* The European Central Bank expects further financial-sector weakness could help keep the euro-zone economy from expanding before the middle of next year, a top policy maker said in an interview.
* Struggling E*Trade Financial Corp (ETFC.O) is working on a deal with its largest shareholder, hedge-fund firm Citadel Investment Group, to shore up its financial position, according to people familiar with the matter.
* China's foreign-exchange regulator said it will widen the range of companies allowed to offer financing to their affiliates or units abroad, to help Chinese companies expand overseas amid the financing crunch in international markets.
* Seven people, including the former chief executive and chairman of accounting firm BDO Seidman LLP, have been charged criminally in an allegedly fraudulent tax-shelter scheme that generated billions of dollars in false tax losses for clients.
* The Supreme Court cleared the way for Chrysler to exit bankruptcy court, lifting a stay on its proposed sale to Italy's Fiat (FIA.MI).
* Edward Whitacre Jr., who turned AT&T Corp (T.N) into the world's largest telecommunications company, will become chairman of General Motors Corp GMGMQ.PK when the company leaves bankruptcy, putting the government's stamp even more firmly on the car maker.
* U.S. auto-parts companies plan to ask the Obama administration for as much as $10 billion in new aid as General Motors Corp GMGMQ.PK and Chrysler LLC bankruptcies deepen the suppliers' troubles.
* From governments around the world, Ford Motor Co (F.N) is trying to secure hundreds of millions in direct loans and loan guarantees to aid its credit arm and comply with environmental regulations in North and South America, Europe and Australia.
* Air-safety regulators are considering requiring the replacement of parts that may have been involved in last week's Air France (AIRF.PA) crash.
* After 11 years, three presidents and millions of dollars in lobbying by worried cigarette makers, Congress is poised to put the tobacco industry under the regulation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
* House leaders in the U.S. outlined a health-care overhaul plan that would create a national health-insurance "exchange" for consumers and include a government-run plan as one option, while Senator Edward Kennedy introduced a similar bill in the Senate.
* The U.S. Supreme Court's decision this week calling for judges to stay out of cases involving big political donors confronts the growing role of money in the U.S. judicial system.
* Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a $3 billion resort project on the Las Vegas Strip, filed for bankruptcy-court protection, the project's owners said.
* Brazil is poised to lower interest rates below 10 percent Wednesday, following two decades of double-digit levels.
* Chinese Web users bristled at state media reports of a rule requiring new PCs to be shipped with Web-filtering software.
* Gianni Versace SpA has tapped Gian Giacomo Ferraris as chief executive, in a move aimed at shoring up the fashion house's leadership.
* Google Inc (GOOG.O) announced a new service aimed to get businesses to switch to its email and calendar services and away from Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) dominant version of those products.
* T-Mobile USA on Tuesday denied speculation that a security breach resulted in stolen customer and corporate data.
