SEC nominee wins committee approval

The Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday approved the nomination of Wall Street investment banker William H. Donaldson to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. He has promised to work to rebuild investor confidence.

The panel’s action cleared the way for approval by the full Senate, possibly this week. Donaldson, 71, a former New York Stock Exchange chairman with ties to the Bush family, will replace lame-duck SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt. Pitt, the Bush administration’s first SEC chief, resigned in early November after a series of political missteps amid last year’s wave of corporate scandals. Senators of both parties have been impatient to see him replaced.

Donaldson has said his highest priority is selecting a new chairman of the board overseeing the accounting industry.

International: British firm to buy Russian oil company

British energy group BP PLC said Tuesday it plans to pay $6.75 billion for a 50 percent stake in a major new Russian company, pinning its hopes for growth to that country’s vast resources of oil and gas.

BP and its Russian partners — Alfa Group and Access-Renova — have agreed to combine their interests in Russia to create a new company with 5.2 billion barrels in oil reserves and daily crude production of 1.2 million barrels. The new venture would be Russia’s third-largest energy business, with stakes in five refineries and 2,100 retail outlets, BP said.

Financial Services: Waddell & Reed lawsuit overturned by N.Y. court

Overland Park-based Waddell & Reed announced Tuesday that a New York state appeals court has overturned a case that awarded a former employee $25 million in punitive damages.

The financial services company in 2001 lost a case involving Waddell & Reed financial adviser Stephen Sawtelle, who was terminated by Waddell & Reed in 1997.

In its ruling Tuesday, the court said the $25 million awarded to Sawtelle was in “manifest disregard to the law.”