UPDATE 1-Market Chatter -- Corporate finance press digest

(Adds Autonomous Research, CNPC)

July 14 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Tuesday:

* China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) could make a binding offer for up to 75 percent of the Argentine unit YPF of Spanish oil major Repsol (REP.MC) in the next few days, ABC reported, citing sources close to the talks. [nLE277546]

* Some of London's best-known banking and insurance analysts have come together to launch an independent research boutique in September, the Financial Times reported. Autonomous Research, headed by Stuart Graham, a former Merrill Lynch banks analyst, will focus on both equity and credit research on Europe's top banks and insurers.

* Private equity firm Starwood Capital Group is bidding on assets of Corus Bankshares Inc CORS.O, a Chicago-based lender hit hard by losses on condominium loans, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website. [ID:nN13225385]

* Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG.N) is in talks to refinance a $1.6 billion loan to Florida East Coast Industries, in which it owns both equity and debt, the Wall Street Journal reported. [ID:nN13228762]

* Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) Chief Executive Stephen Hester will be given tougher performance targets to meet next year to collect his maximum bonus, according to Tuesday's edition of the Financial Times. [ID:nLD322904]

* Former Republican Congressman Michael Huffington has filed a lawsuit against Carlyle Group [CYL.UL] alleging the private-equity firm misrepresented the safety of Carlyle Capital Corp, the publicly traded mortgage-securities fund that collapsed last spring, the Wall Street Journal reported. [ID:nBNG444348]

(Compiled by Tresa Sherin Morera and Balachander Surianarayanan in the Bangalore newsroom; Editing by David Holmes)