PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - March 30
March 30 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* The Obama administration used the threat of withholding more bailout money to force out General Motors Corp GM.N Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and administer harsh medicine to Chrysler LLC, marking one of the most dramatic government interventions in private industry since the economic crisis began last year.
* Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB.O) is expected to announce Monday that it has agreed to sell a majority interest in its payment-processing unit to private-equity firm Advent International Corp, a deal that further shores up the bank's capital base following a $3.45 billion injection from the government.
* The regulator of Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) is considering giving the government-backed mortgage companies another role: helping to finance small mortgage banks.
* Huntsman Corp (HUN.N) paid $15 million in consulting fees to Jon Huntsman, founder, chairman and a major shareholder of the chemical company, for his work in settling a lawsuit against private-equity firm Apollo Management LP over a failed leveraged buyout.
* American International Group Inc (AIG.N), whose spending is being monitored by the Federal Reserve, has cut or delayed payments to some AIG real-estate ventures, potentially leaving shopping centers and apartment complexes across the U.S. short on cash to pay lenders and fund repairs and renovations, according to court documents and people familiar with the matter.
* EBay Inc's (EBAY.O) Skype unit plans to release a version of its Internet-based phone software for Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone.
* Real estate tycoon Sam Zell, trying to restore his stature as an astute investor after his disastrous buyout of Tribune Co, has surfaced as an unlikely player in a controversy in Brazil over affordable housing.
* The effort to separate the roles of chairman and chief executive at U.S. public companies is gaining prominent new allies. More than 50 corporate leaders, investors and governance specialists Monday will urge companies to bolster board oversight of management by splitting the roles.
* Banks almost unanimously agree that their compensation packages contributed to the global financial crisis but still are struggling to correct some of the flaws in their pay structures, according to a survey of financial institutions due for publication Monday.
* AstraZeneca Plc's (AZN.L) cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor sharply reduced the risk of a potentially fatal blood-clot disorder called venous thromboembolism that results in more than 250,000 hospital admissions in the U.S. each year, a clinical trial found.
* The deterioration of the U.K.'s once-booming financial-services sector continued in the first quarter, with income and profitability falling sharply and firms slashing jobs at the fastest pace in 16 years, a business survey said.
* Spain's central bank will bail out struggling regional savings bank Caja de Ahorros Castilla La Mancha, marking the first time a Spanish financial institution has been rescued since the current financial crisis began.
* A new report found widespread fraud in a government program designed to help small businesses secure federal contracts, a sign of the obstacles the government faces as it launches programs designed to help small businesses dig out of the recession.
