By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – Just 12 days before jury selection is to begin in a much-delayed case, lawyers for Allen Stanford, accused of running a $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme, have asked to withdraw from the case.

The request by Ali Fazel and Robert Scardino is the latest twist in a case in which Stanford, once believed to be a billionaire but who later claimed to be indigent, has employed roughly 14 different lawyers, and spent several months under medical care after being ruled incompetent to stand trial.

Fazel and Scardino, who were appointed by the court and are being paid with public funds, had previously sought to delay jury selection beyond the scheduled January 23 date.

In a joint filing on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Houston, they said rulings by the presiding judge David Hittner, budget matters and non-public issues make it “untenable” for them to stay on the case.

“The time and budgetary constraints imposed on defense counsel have operated to deprive the accused of counsel who are adequately prepared to render the constitutional threshold of effective assistance,” they said. “Counsel cannot represent the accused competently.”

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – A lawyer involved in several major recent bankruptcies has been named the examiner for the bankruptcy of Dynegy Holdings LLC and will investigate whether the company is treating bondholders fairly.

The appointment of Susheel Kirpalani, chairman of the bankruptcy and restructuring group at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, was made by the U.S. Trustee’s office and disclosed in a filing with the bankruptcy court in Manhattan.

It requires court approval and follows the Chapter 11 filing last November 7 by the holding company for power producer Dynegy Inc, which is trying to restructure more than $4 billion of debt.

This restructuring is unusual because it would cause losses for bondholders, yet protect shareholders such as the Seneca Capital hedge fund and billionaire financier Carl Icahn.

Examiners are appointed for the benefit of creditors, equity investors and the bankruptcy estate. They may investigate allegations such as dishonesty, fraud, incompetence and mismanagement. A finding that management has done something wrong could undermine support for or derail a reorganization.

As examiner, Kirpalani will investigate transactions that took place two months before the bankruptcy filing, in which Dynegy Holdings moved assets related to coal-powered plants to its parent, which did not file for bankruptcy.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc will pay $3.13 million to settle a federal lawsuit accusing it of racial discrimination for using criminal background checks to screen out job applicants who were arrested but not convicted, disproportionately excluding blacks.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said the former policy of the company’s Pepsi Beverages Co unit not to hire workers who had arrest records or were convicted of minor offenses improperly excluded more than 300 black applicants.

According to the agency, the use of arrest and conviction records to deny employment can be illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, if that use is irrelevant to the jobs being sought.

Once known as Pepsi Bottling Group, Pepsi Beverages is a manufacturing, sales and distribution business. It handles most of the North American beverage volume for PepsiCo, one of the world’s largest beverage and snack food companies.

Dave DeCecco, a Pepsi Beverages spokesman, said the company has always applied its background checks neutrally.

He added that after the issue first surfaced in 2006, Pepsi Beverages worked with the EEOC to revise the background check policy, to help promote a diverse and inclusive workplace.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – The struggling Eastman Kodak Co on Tuesday sued Apple Inc, whose market value is more than 2,400 times greater, accusing it of infringing four patents related to digital camera images.

Kodak also sued Taiwan’s HTC Corp, alleging violations of the four patents as well as a fifth. It said it filed a related complaint against both companies with the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An HTC spokeswoman said it is premature to comment until that company can review Kodak’s complaints.

Kodak is trying to preserve value as the money-losing company, which had been left behind by rivals that embraced digital camera technology faster, tries to raise cash by selling a large patent portfolio.

It also has patent litigation against Research in Motion Ltd, which makes the BlackBerry.

The Wall Street Journal has said Kodak may file for bankruptcy, a prospect the company has declined to discuss. Kodak on Tuesday unveiled a revamped business structure, and its shares, which trade below $1, rose 50 percent.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – US Airways Group Inc (LCC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and a union representing 5,200 pilots have agreed to end litigation spawned by what the carrier called an illegal work slowdown.

Both sides have asked U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad in Charlotte, North Carolina, to make permanent his September 28 order that directed the union to temporarily end the slowdown, a Friday court filing shows.

In its July 2011 lawsuit, US Airways accused the union of encouraging pilots to work more slowly, delay departures, call in fatigued and boost “maintenance write-ups” to speed up contract talks.

The Tempe, Arizona-based carrier said the actions caused more delays and cancellations, and an increase in the rate at which customer baggage failed to make connecting flights.

“Rather than proceed with this litigation, the parties have agreed and stipulated that the preliminary injunction should be converted into a permanent injunction and that final judgment should be entered in favour of US Airways,” the filing said.

US Airways and pilots have been in often-contentious contract talks since the 2005 merger of the old US Airways with America West Airlines, with the main dispute over seniority.

Jan 9 (Reuters) – The Securities and Exchange Commission has urged banks to publish more details about their exposure to European sovereign debt, a factor in the recent bankruptcy of the futures brokerage MF Global Holdings Ltd (MFGLQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

In guidance issued on Friday, the regulator’s Division of Corporation Finance said disclosures by publicly-traded financial institutions have been “inconsistent in both substance and presentation.”

It said this could make it harder for investors to discern how much risk the banks are taking, both individually and relative to each other, and how the exposures will affect operating results or financial health.

The SEC urged that banks reveal direct and indirect exposures “separately by country, segregated between sovereign and non-sovereign exposures.”

It said they should also provide more details on hedging, through such instruments as credit default swaps, and sums they might need to raise if forced to close out their positions.

“In determining which countries are covered by this guidance, registrants should focus on those experiencing significant economic, fiscal and/or political strains such that the likelihood of default would be higher than would be anticipated when such factors do not exist,” the SEC said.

The non-binding guidance was issued about two months after MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection, amid a liquidity crunch spurred by investor and customer worries about its $6.3 billion bet on sovereign debt from Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

Jan 9 (Reuters) –

* SEC non-binding guidance seeks greater transparency

* Regulator calls disclosures inconsistent

* Sovereign debt exposure helped fuel MF Global bankruptcy

(Adds other companies, details on SEC guidance)

By Jonathan Stempel

Jan 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has urged banks to publish more details about their exposure to European sovereign debt, a factor in the recent bankruptcy of the futures brokerage MF Global Holdings Ltd (MFGLQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research).

Jan 9 (Reuters) –

* SEC non-binding guidance seeks greater transparency

* Regulator calls disclosures inconsistent

* Sovereign debt exposure helped fuel MF Global bankruptcy

(Adds other companies, details on SEC guidance)

By Jonathan Stempel

Jan 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has urged banks to publish more details about their exposure to European sovereign debt, a factor in the recent bankruptcy of the futures brokerage MF Global Holdings Ltd (MFGLQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research).

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – A California woman is suing the maker of Tropicana claiming it is squeezing consumers by touting the best-selling U.S. orange juice as “100% pure and natural” when it is not.

In her federal lawsuit, plaintiff Angelena Lewis said Tropicana Products Inc, knowing consumers “want and demand natural products,” deceives them in its advertising and packaging for its Pure Premium juice, including cartons featuring an orange with a straw stuck into it.

Lewis said the unit of PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) actually puts the juice through extensive processing, adding aromas and flavors that change its “essential nature” and give it a longer shelf life.

This deception lets Tropicana charge more than rivals and helps fuel more than $5 billion of annual sales worldwide, according to Lewis, who lives in Vacaville, about 55 miles northeast of San Francisco.

“While Tropicana claims that ‘making Tropicana orange juice is truly an art’ it is far more a science,” said the complaint filed on Friday in Sacramento, California. “The resulting product does not taste like fresh squeezed orange juice.”

Tropicana’s website says Pure Premium has 16 fresh-picked oranges squeezed into each 59-ounce container.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – Goodbye, Parentlode.

New York Times Co, which has a parenting blog known as Motherlode, has agreed to settle a lawsuit against the Huffington Post after that website decided to change the name of its new Parentlode blog.

The settlement came two weeks after Lisa Belkin, who had overseen Motherlode and started Parentlode in October after joining AOL Inc’s Huffington Post, said she would drop the Parentlode name and hold a contest for readers to pick a new one.

Eileen Murphy, a Times spokeswoman, said “we are in final settlement discussions with the Huffington Post.” She called the name change “a victory for all creators of original intellectual property.”

An AOL spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Terms of the agreement in principle were not disclosed. Both companies are based in New York.

The Times had accused Belkin of intentionally naming her new blog to confuse readers into believing it was the same “virtual koffee klatch” for parenting as her old blog.