[JURIST] Leading Friday's corporations and securities news, the White House Friday formally filed papers with the Senate for the nomination of Congressman Christopher Cox [official profile] as new Chairman of the SEC. Cox, a Republican from California, was informally tabbed [JURIST report] early last month. The filing follows former SEC Chairman William Donaldson's formal resignation [JURIST report] yesterday. Cox's remarks at the earlier White House announcement in June are available. AP has more.

In other corporations and securities news...

• The SEC has sued online auto-trader Terry's Tips [corporate website] for misleading performance projections. In a press release, the SEC said that Terry's Tips has boasted 100% annual returns while its accounts have actually taken heavy losses. The SEC also warned investors to be careful using auto-trading firms. Auto-trading is a relatively new practice where investors give advisors, such as Terry's Tips, permission to control the investors' brokerage accounts. Reuters has more.
  
  
• As reported earlier on JURISTS's Paper Chase, Microsoft has agreed to pay IBM $775 million to settle a long-running lawsuit. The settlement resolves most of IBM's antitrust claims against Microsoft and prohibits IBM from bringing any other claims for two years. In a joint press release, the companies said they look forward to cooperating and competing in the future. Bloomberg has more.