A round-up of today's other stories in brief

US takes legal action against major credit card companies

The US justice department yesterday began action against American Express, Visa and MasterCard, accusing them of violating anti-trust laws and citing rules that prevented merchants from encouraging consumers to use cheaper credit cards. Simultaneously, it settled a separate issue with Visa and MasterCard, which agreed to allow merchants offer discounts to consumers who use less expensive types of credit or debit cards.

The companies said the settlement, subject to court approval, did not involve any payment.

The legal action has the potential to cut into a significant source of profits for American Express. – (Reuters)

High Court discharges Elan injunction

The High Court has discharged an injunction obtained by Elan aimed at preventing two of its directors from using the US courts to launch an allegedly unauthorised review of corporate governance at the company.

Elan secured a temporary injunction last month against Jack Schuler and Vaughan Bryson after it claimed the two had instructed a separate US legal firm to undertake a review in the US of allegations of breaches of corporate governance.

Yesterday, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy was told both sides consented to the interim order being struck out, with general liberty to re-enter.

Skype names Bates as new CEO

Skype yesterday named Cisco executive Tony Bates as its next chief executive ahead of an estimated $1 billion (€730 million) initial public offering from the internet telephone provider.

Skype, which is partly owned by Ebay, said Mr Bates will join later this month, replacing Joshua Silverman, an eBay executive who has been chief executive since early 2008. In the meantime Skype chief financial officer Adrian Dillon will act as CEO.

Mr Bates is relocating from California to Skype's Luxembourg headquarters.

The news comes amid expectations Cisco is poised to compete more directly with services such as Skype's video chat service. – (Reuters)