BP may face criminal charges over the explosion at its giant Texas refinery that killed 15 workers last March.
The US Department of Labour has referred the case to the Department of Justice, which will now decide whether to pursue it.
The news came on the same day that BP issued its final report on the blast at its Texas City refinery near Houston, which also injured 170 people
Microsoft has been fined 33bn won ($32m; £18.4m) following an antitrust ruling by South Korean regulators.
The US software giant was ordered to unbundle its messaging service from its Windows software by South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission
Sony BMG’s woes in the US over its much-criticised anti-piracy CD software have deepened.
It is facing two separate lawsuits in Texas and California.
The Texan lawsuit accuses Sony of installing spyware and is seeking damages of up to $100,000 in damages for each violation
Two major online dating agencies are being sued for alleged fraud and malpractice in the United States.
Match.com has been accused of sending bogus emails to clients and using their own staff to attend some dates – the practice known as “date bait”
The oldest bank in the US, the Bank of New York, has agreed to pay $38m (£21m) to resolve long-running fraud and money-laundering investigations.
The bank will forfeit $26m to the government and pay $12m to victims of the fraud, prosecutors said.
The case dates back to 1999, when two of bank employees helped launder $7bn from Russia through several accounts
The Serious Fraud Office has begun an investigation into Severn Trent Water.
The office was contacted by water watchdog Ofwat which has been holding its own investigation into the company after allegations from an employee.
The allegations concern fears the water company provided unreliable information, particularly accounting inaccuracies, to Ofwat
Financial watchdogs have launched an inquiry into Austrian bank BAWAG’s 350m euro ($418m; £237m) loan to the ex-boss of crisis-hit US finance firm Refco.
Austrian regulators are investigating if BAWAG followed proper rules when it granted the loan to Phillip Bennett.
Refco has been struggling since its former chief executive was charged with fraud and concealing a $430m loan ahead of a stock market flotation
A US oil trading company has pleaded guilty to involvement in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal and agreed to pay a fine of $250,000 (£141,000).
Midway Trading was accused of paying $400,000 in bribes to Iraqi officials for oil purchases under the UN scheme.
The scheme was devised to let Saddam Hussein sell oil and buy humanitarian goods while sanctions were in force
Two firms have been fined a total of £13.5m for breaching health and safety regulations over the 2000 Hatfield train crash, in which four people died.
Network Rail, formerly Railtrack, was fined £3
Institutional investors have sued Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp claiming it reneged on a promise to protect shareholders when it moved to the US.
Investors allege the group failed to get their approval to extend measures to protect it against a takeover.
Last year, News Corp vowed not to extend this “poison pill” beyond a year if investors backed a move to the US