The legal issues that relate to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of businesses.

Speculation continues to surround St. Paul Travelers Cos. and Zurich Financial Services Group. St. Paul has denied that it's in merger talks with Zurich, despite a Wall Street Journal story to the contrary.

Elsewhere in the insurance industry, the UK's Aviva Plc is considering a hostile bid for UK rival, Prudential Plc. According to this Reuters article, the deal would be largely complementary.

In Europe, France's machinations to avoid the acquisiton of France's Suez S.A. by Italy's Enel SpA has drawn the criticism of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. According to this AP article, Barroso said that France's decision to "orchestrate" a merger of Suez with a state-controlled utility created "the impression that the plan had been engineered 'by an (EU) member state to defend itself against another member state. . . That is dangerous,' Barroso said. 'And my duty is to say 'no' to economic nationalism.'"

This saga won't end soon--Enel SpA is "expected to sound EU antitrust authorities about a tentative hostile bid for Suez."