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HOUSTON (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp on Monday named as chief compliance officer a lawyer the oil and gas company had previously hired to respond to an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Patrick Craine, a partner with the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani and former attorney in the SEC's Fort Worth, Texas, office, was hired to augment the company's regulatory and legal compliance efforts, Chesapeake's new chief executive officer, Doug Lawler, said in a statement. ...

TORONTO (Reuters) - Restaurant chain Tim Hortons Inc , which recently outlined plans to address the concerns of activist investor Highfields Capital, now faces pressure from another activist investor. Scout Capital Management, a U.S. hedge fund, disclosed on Monday that it has raised its stake in the Canadian chain. The fund now owns 5.5 percent of Tim Hortons' stock, up from about 1.5 percent, as of the end of March. ...

By Brad Haynes PARIS (Reuters) - Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA launched a bigger and more efficient lineup of commercial E-Jets at the Paris Airshow, with a robust show of demand as it pushed deeper into a segment that rival Bombardier had staked out with its new narrow-body CSeries. The world's largest regional airline group, SkyWest , signed an order for 100 upgraded E-175s and options for 100 more -- worth a combined $9.36 billion at list price -- confirming a Reuters report earlier on Monday as the Brazilians gained momentum in a long-running regional jet duel. ...

By William Schomberg and Roberta Rampton ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union launched negotiations for the world's most ambitious free-trade deal on Monday, promising thousands of new jobs and accelerated growth on both sides of the Atlantic. Trade between Europe and the United States is worth almost $3 billion a day and a pact could boost both the EU and U.S. economies by more than $100 billion a year each - an attractive prospect after the devastating impact of Europe's debt crisis. ...

(Reuters) - Detroit's default and debt-restructuring plan are precedent-setting in the U.S. municipal market, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday, because the city is looking to bondholders, as well as labor unions and pensioners, to share the pain. The city on Friday defaulted on a $39.7 million payment on certificates of participation and presented a plan to restructure its finances. "The restructuring plan is unconventional and precedent-setting in the municipal market. ...

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) is set to win unconditional EU approval for its $8.2 billion bid for NYSE Euronext after antitrust regulators found no competition concerns, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The deal will give ICE control of Liffe, Europe's second-largest derivatives market, and boost its presence in the interest rate futures business. "The deal is expected to be approved by the European Commission without any conditions," said one of the people, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Homebuilder sentiment jumped in June, rising above a key milestone for the first time since the start of the housing crisis in a vote of confidence for the sector's recovery, data from the National Association of Home Builders showed on Monday. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index surged to 52 from 44 in May, handily topping forecasts for 45. Readings above 50 mean more builders view market conditions as favorable than poor. It was the first time the index has been above that dividing line since April 2006 and was its highest level since March of the same year. ...

By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures rose on Monday after major equity indexes on Friday closed their third negative week in four, with traders focused on this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting. While consensus is building among policy-makers that the time is nearing for the U.S. central bank to scale down its quantitative easing, or $85 billion-a-month asset purchase program, divisions remain over when to start the tapering. ...

(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson said on Monday that it would buy Aragon Pharmaceuticals, a private company that is running a mid-stage clinical trial for a prostate cancer drug, for $650 million in cash upfront and a possible second payment of $350 million if it meets certain milestones. The deal does not include development of Aragon's treatment for breast cancer, which will be spun off into a separate company called Seragon Pharmaceuticals ahead of the deal and will be run by Aragon's chief executive officer. ...

(Reuters) - Starboard Value LP, a large shareholder in Smithfield Foods Inc , urged the world's largest pork producer to explore a breakup rather than go ahead with a planned $4.7 billion takeover by Chinese meat company Shuanghui International. The activist shareholder, which disclosed a 5.7 percent stake in the company on Monday, said Smithfield might be worth "well in excess" of the $34 per share offered by Shuanghui if it split into hog production, pork and international units and shopped the businesses separately. ...

By Siva Govindasamy and Brenda Goh PARIS (Reuters) - Big finance waded into a rain-soaked Paris Airshow with more than $10 billion in orders for jumbo passenger jets as planemakers dueled over strategy for large aircraft on Monday. The world's biggest aircraft lessor, a unit of General Electric , became the second buyer to endorse a larger version of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, weeks after the lightweight jet went back into service after a three-month grounding. ...

By Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) - Elan shareholders approved a share buyback on Monday, meaning U.S.-based Royalty Pharma's hostile bid for the Irish drug firm will lapse unless it succeeds in a legal challenge. Royalty, hoping to convince Elan's owners to accept its bid in the face of opposition from its target's board, last month made its takeover offer conditional on shareholders voting down all resolutions at Monday's meeting. Shareholders rejected the company's proposed $1 billion royalties deal with U.S. ...