General Motors revealed it would have to restate financial results for several years at GMAC. The carmaker is hoping to sell a majority stake in its mortgage and financial services unit as part of its strategy to raise cash and improve its credit rating. As part of this strategy, GM is continuing to divest its holdings in Japan; it is also in talks with three potential buyers to sell its 7.9% stake in Isuzu Motors.

In a hearing before America's Supreme Court, eBay argued that it and other e-commerce companies were being subjected to unnecessary lawsuits from “patent trolls” that aggressively seek patent royalties. The online auctioneer is defending its website's “Buy it Now” feature, which it says it has sufficiently altered since a court ruled in 2003 that it infringed patents held by MercExchange, a technology firm. See article

The men from the Pru

Just a few days after Aviva confirmed it had launched a bid to buy Prudential, it abandoned its £17 billion ($30 billion) offer due, it said, to a lack of “co-operation” from the Pru's board. The move didn't dampen speculation among investors that both British insurance firms are now likely takeover targets.

NASDAQ withdrew its bid for the London Stock Exchange. It joins a long line of suitors that have wilted at the displeasure of the LSE's board at the value of its offer (even though some of its major shareholders expressed positive feelings to the approach).

The Securities and Exchange Commission overturned a lifetime ban on Frank Quattrone from working in the securities industry. The SEC said the ban, imposed in 2004 by the National Association of Securities Dealers, America's regulator of brokerage firms, was hasty and “not in accordance” with NASD's rules.

A white knight to the rescue

Temasek, the Singaporean government's investment company, bought an 11.6% stake in Standard Chartered from the estate of a deceased local banking tycoon, who helped the bank defeat a takeover bid in 1986. It was rumoured that several American and British financial institutions had been interested in the stake, worth £2.3 billion ($4 billion), as a step towards launching a bid for the London-based firm, which makes most of its profit in Asia.

Investors gave their seal of approval to a decision by antitrust officials to allow the $1.7 billion merger between Maytag and Whirlpool, which both make electrical appliances (Maytag's share price increased by 28%). The news ends a saga that heated up when China's Haier made a bid for Maytag last year.

Grupo Ferrovial said it was employing Australia's Macquarie Bank as an adviser in its hostile bid to buy BAA, the operator of seven British airports, including Heathrow. As part of their arrangement, the Spanish firm, which specialises in infrastructure, struck a deal to sell its 21% stake in Sydney airport to Macquarie if it succeeds in winning BAA (for which Macquarie had been expected to mount a rival bid).

GUS, a British retailer and business services group, confirmed that it was planning to split itself in two and list its Argos Retail Group and Experian divisions on the stockmarket. The plan to demerge was expected (GUS sold its stake in Burberry last year), but private-equity groups had expressed interest in Experian, a credit-checking business based in California.

Accenture, a consulting firm, reported that net profit for the three months ending February 28th had fallen by 67%, compared with a year earlier, as it booked a $450m charge for losses associated with its contract to provide Britain's National Health Service with a new IT system. Problems with integrating and developing the system are proving more difficult for Accenture than it indicated last year.

Money in the bank
 

China surpassed Japan as the world's biggest holder of foreign reserves. The news came amid more politicking over China's currency policy, which American politicians regard as a cause of their trade deficit. Charles Schumer, a senator who has been shrill in his attacks on Beijing, dropped plans, for the moment at least, to slap a 27.5% tariff on Chinese goods, partly in response to signals from China that it would allow its currency to float more freely. See article