[JURIST] In Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, Thom Calandra, former chief commentator for CBS MarketWatch [media website], will pay at least $540,000 in penalties to settle fraud charges with the SEC [official website]. The charges stem from allegations Calandra made over $400,000 in illegal profits by buying shares of certain companies and then writing favorable things about them in his newsletter. Read the SEC press release announcing the deal. AP has more.

In other news, the United States and the European Union will return to the negotiating table in an attempt to reach an agreement which could stop government aid to Airbus [corporate website] and Boeing [corporate website]. The US and EU decided a WTO ruling on the dispute could hurt both sides and have given negotiators three months to reach a deal. The Financial Times has more…. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, six individuals, two former AOL [corporate website] executives and four former executives from the now-defunct PurchasePro software company, have been charged in an ongoing investigation into a secret negotiation between the two companies to artificially increase PurchasePro's revenues. AP has more……. Daniel Bayly, one of five defendants convicted in the Enron [corporate website] Nigerian barge trial, began his house arrest on January 1. A district court judge also granted a government request to increase Bayly's bond to $2 million. Read the government's indictment against the five defendants [PDF]. The Houston Chronicle has more, plus continuing coverage of the barge trial…. As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, WebMD [corporate website] announced three former employees of Medical Manager Health Systems Inc., a company it acquired five years ago, have agreed to plead guilty to charges of mail fraud. The Tampa Bay Business Journal has more…. Nortel Networks Corp. [corporate website], the largest North American phone-equipment maker, announced 12 executives will repay $8.6 million in bonuses after the company restated results for 2001-2003. Read the Nortel press release. Bloomberg has more…. Intuit Inc. [corporate website], provider of business and financial management software, announced it will pay Lorrie M. Norrington, its former executive vice president, $1.5 million as part of her severance package. Read the Intuit press release . The Silicon Valley Business Journal has more…. The United Steelworkers of America [union website] and PACE International Union [union website] have announced a merger which would create the nation's largest industrial labor union. Read the USWA press release here. AP has more…. The SEC has announced a settlement with Lawrence S. Powell and Delano N. Sta.Ana, former representatives at Kaplan & Co. Securities, Inc., related to their attempt to defraud mutual fund shareholders through improper market timing and late trading. Read the SEC press release and its administrative proceeding press release.