Sept 26 (Reuters) – The lawyers for the bankrupt Los
Angeles Dodgers have put the interests of the owner, Frank
McCourt, ahead of the baseball team they represent and they
should be disqualified, according to Major League Baseball.

The disqualification request steps up the battle between
the league and McCourt over ultimate control of one of the
sport’s most storied franchises.

By Tom Hals

(Reuters) – Hewlett-Packard Co directors may have embarrassed themselves by keeping former Chief Executive Leo Apotheker on the job for less than a year, but the board is unlikely to face serious legal action from shareholders angry over its drooping stock price.

Legal experts said directors are generally protected from making bad decisions that were done in good faith, so any shareholder lawsuit related to the executive shake-up likely would be a stretch. In addition, showing the door to the CEO of a company with a plummeting stock price is generally considered a sign of a responsive board.

By Tom Hals

(Reuters) – For big hedge funds that throw themselves into large bankruptcies with an eye on outsized profits, the Chapter 11 case of Washington Mutual Inc may be remembered as a game-changer.

A Delaware bankruptcy judge’s ruling in the case rejecting the company’s reorganization plan could chip away at the funds’ underlying investing strategy and change how large restructurings are negotiated, according to legal experts.

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own)

By George Hay

LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Federico Ghizzoni
needs to make up for lost time. The chief executive of UniCredit
(CRDI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) missed a good chance to recapitalise the Italian bank
in the spring, when most of its peers raised equity. Since then,
the euro zone maelstrom has spread to his home country.
Fortunately, he still has options.

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own)

By George Hay

LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Federico Ghizzoni
needs to make up for lost time. The chief executive of UniCredit
(CRDI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) missed a good chance to recapitalise the Italian bank
in the spring, when most of its peers raised equity. Since then,
the euro zone maelstrom has spread to his home country.
Fortunately, he still has options.

By Andrew Longstreth and Tom Hals

(Reuters) – The board of News Corp knew more than 10 years ago that the company’s U.S. subsidiaries were illegally hacking competitors’ computers, according to a revised lawsuit filed by shareholders on Tuesday.

Beyond phone hacking by some of the company’s journalists in the U.K., the News Corp board was also long aware of improper conduct at two U.S. subsidiaries, News America Marketing and NDS Group, according to allegations in the lawsuit.

By Tom Hals

(Reuters) – The Dallas Stars hockey team plans to file for bankruptcy this week with a proposal for a quick sale to a Canadian businessman for about $230 million, according to sources close to the talks.

The proposed sale to Tom Gaglardi, whose Vancouver-based investment firm owns Moxie’s Restaurants and Sandman Hotels, Inns & Suites, will be subject to higher bids.

(The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions
expressed are their own)

By George Hay and Peter Thal Larsen

LONDON, Sept 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Sir John Vickers is
about to drop his bombshell. On Sept. 12, the chairman of
Britain’s Independent Commission on Banking will unveil the
results of a 14-month probe into stability and competition in
the UK sector. The ICB’s mission is to solve what finance
minister George Osborne has dubbed the “British dilemma”: how to
maintain a large financial industry while protecting taxpayers
from future bailouts.

(The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions
expressed are their own)

By Margaret Doyle and George Hay

LONDON, Sept 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) – BNP Paribas
(BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) may be disappointed if
they reckon that their statements this month on funding will
ease investor concerns. While shares in both French banks
enjoyed a relief rally on Sept. 8, they are still down 40 and 54
percent respectively since early July. Both groups want to show
that these sell-offs are fuelled by market hysteria, not
fundamentals. But the Basel Committee’s tough new liquidity
rules suggest the opposite.