COMPANIES

Merrill Lynch & Co named the NYSE Euronext Chief Financial Officer, Nelson Chai, as its own CFO today, replacing Jeffrey Edwards.

World's two fastest growing economies, China and India, have earned the dubious distinction of being home to some of the biggest polluting firms across the globe, according to a list published by Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA), a product of the Confronting Climate Change Initiative at the Center for Global Development, an independent think-tank located in Washington, DC.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) on Monday posted a 0.4 percent increase in U.S. sales in November, up for the first time in 12 months, driven by sales to commercial fleet and government customers. The embattled U.S. automaker said it sold 182,951 vehicles in the United States last month, compared with 182,259 vehicles a year earlier.

Discover Financial Services, the credit card company spun off by Morgan Stanley five months ago, said on Monday that it would take a charge to write off part of its Goldfish credit card business in Britain, where consumer credit has deteriorated.

French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis SA said on Monday it had opened its first Asian pharmaceutical development centre in Goa, another sign of increasing interest in India from global drugmakers.

Shares in China Railway Group 601390.SS, the world's third-largest construction contractor, rose 69 percent on their Shanghai debut on Monday, calming investor fears that big Chinese listings could be running out of steam.

Top bankers at ABN AMRO NV are threatening a fight with Royal Bank of Scotland over 750 million euros ($1.11 billion) of bonuses they want paid out, a newspaper reported on Monday.

UnitedHealth Group Inc said on Monday that it planned to affirm its 2007 earnings forecast of $3.49 to $3.50 per share in conjunction with its annual investor conference on Tuesday.

South Africa's Standard Bank said on Monday a majority of shareholders had approved the acquisition of a 20 percent stake in the group by China's biggest lender ICBC for $5.6 billion.

MetLife Inc, the largest U.S. life insurer, said on Monday it expects operating profit to increase for the fourth quarter and full year, helped by unusually strong investment results.

Swiss Life advanced a sweeping restructuring on Monday, unveiling plans to buy German investment advisor AWD in an agreed deal valuing AWD at $1.71 billion.

Shares in Toyota Motor Corp have been battered this year, lagging both global auto peers and a weak Japanese stock market, but analysts are near unanimous that the world's most profitable carmaker is due for a bounce.

French telecom and media group Vivendi said on Sunday it will merge its video games unit with Activision Inc in a $9.85 billion deal that combines the hit Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft franchises under one roof.

Nasdaq opened an office in Beijing on Monday, a move that will let it step up efforts to attract more Chinese firms to list on the exchange.

E*Trade's firesale of its mortgage-backed assets may be banks' new worst case scenario.

Motorola's board of directors Friday revealed that chief executive Ed Zander will be stepping down from his post to be replaced by president and COO Greg Brown.

Despite an announcement of new leadership today, billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn is renewing his pressure on Motorola, calling for the break-up of the cell phone maker on Friday.

UK oil producer Burren Energy has agreed to a takeover bid by Italian firm Eni worth £1,736 million. Eni are buying the entire issued share capital of the company at a price of £12.30 per share in cash.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce could have up to C$10 billion ($10 billion) in hedged exposure to the U.S. subprime mortgage sector, a newspaper said on Friday.

Royal Bank of Canada reported a five-percent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Friday, as earnings growth in Canadian retail banking and wealth management offset weaker U.S. banking and capital markets results.

J.C. Flowers upped the stakes in the rescue battle for Northern Rock, offering to improve its bid but also warning it would walk away if the government won't talk, a person close to the U.S. buyout firm said.

Major drug makers AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer Inc said on Friday they were upbeat about their prospects in the Japanese market, citing a sea change in the regulatory environment and mild generic competition.

Mobile phone maker Motorola Inc said on Friday that Chief Executive Ed Zander will step down on January 1 and be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Greg Brown.

Sharp currency moves and a dollar slump have prompted many retail investors to turn to foreign exchange to yield returns in troubled markets.

Sony Corp said it plans to sell auto-related programs such as the BBC's Top Gear series to users of its PlayStation 3 via the Internet, strengthening the game machine's appeal as a gateway to the Web.

CEO pay in the hard-hit U.S. home-building sector is high compared with most other industries, and a big chunk of the compensation is from annual bonuses that aren't tied to long-term performance, a new study has found.

Big Lots Inc on Friday reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on improved cost controls, but the closeout retailer said it now expects same-store sales to fall in the holiday quarter amid weak demand for toys and home goods.

Newmont Mining Corp, the world's No. 2 gold producer, on Friday said it agreed to sell its royalty assets and other non-core investments to Franco-Nevada Corp in a deal worth about $1.3 billion.

An economic recession could hammer those media and entertainment companies that rely heavily on advertising next year, curtailing experimentation when the industry needs it most.