BRIEFCASE DISNEY, JAKKS OK AGREEMENT.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

MALIBU - JAKKS Pacific Inc. has entered into a licensing agreement with Disney Interactive to develop and market multiple TV Games products featuring the Disney brand and characters.

A spokesman for JAKKS, announcing the deal Tuesday, said TV Games can be plugged into a television for multiple video games contained within an all-in-one system controller.

JAKKS TV Games featuring classic Disney characters - including Disney princesses and Winnie the Pooh and friends - will be marketed under JAKKS' Toymax division and are scheduled to premiere in autumn 2003.

Toymax introduced TV Games in 2001 with 10 classic video games in one game controller. Players plug the system, a hand-held control, into any standard television and then have 10 video games in one compact portable controller. No game console or other software or hardware is required.

Northrop on track in TRW deal filings

CENTURY CITY - Northrop Grumman officials announced Tuesday that the corporation has made two filings with government regulators related to the pending acquisition of TRW Inc.

With the filings, the acquisition remains on track for closure during the fourth quarter of 2002, Northrop officials said.

On Thursday, Northrop Grumman submitted a Certificate of Substantial Compliance to the Department of Justice regarding the department's Second Request for Information pertaining to the Northrop Grumman-TRW merger.

The next day, Northrop Grumman filed a notification with the European Commission.

Tyco's report details widespread payoffs

Tyco International, whose former top executives have been indicted on charges of looting the company, said Tuesday that it had uncovered a web of deception and personal enrichment that spread throughout its management ranks.

The report provided details to fill in what had been previously sketched: Tyco's former chief executive, L. Dennis Kozlowski, systematically created a corporate culture of greed and excess, secretly authorizing the forgiveness of tens of millions of dollars of loans to dozens of executives to keep their loyalty.

At Kozlowski's direction and without board approval, 51 Tyco employees received $56 million in bonuses - and $39 million more to pay the taxes on the bonuses - that wiped out loans extended by the company.

The report follows a four-month internal investigation conducted by David Boies, the lawyer who represented the government against Microsoft.

Vivendi expecting millions in loans

LONDON - Vivendi Universal is expected to receive 2 billion euros - $1.94 billion - in new loans this week from a group of banks, taking it a step closer to shoring up its financing ahead of a crucial board meeting next week, people close to the company said Tuesday.

But the loans will last Vivendi only through the end of this year, analysts said, making the sale of businesses a crucial part of Vivendi's efforts to trim 19 billion euros in debt.

To that end, negotiations for the sale of several Vivendi divisions, including Telepi, an Italian pay television network, and Canal Plus Technologies, a maker of set-top box software, have intensified in recent days, people close to the company said.

Schwab reveals more layoff plans

Charles Schwab Corp. announced Tuesday that it would eliminate an additional 10 percent of its jobs in what some analysts said was likely to be part of a round of year-end layoffs in the securities industry.

Schwab, the San Francisco-based brokerage company, had been looking for ways to reduce its annual costs by $225 million. Most of those savings will come from the dismissal of about 1,800 employees, who will be identified within two months, said Christopher Dodds, the chief financial officer.

McDonald's serves notice of downturn

CHICAGO - McDonald's Corp. warned of lower sales and profits Tuesday after a summer of disappointing results, and its top executive said a series of moves aimed at turning around its slumping U.S. business will take time to pay off.

The announcement sent McDonald's ailing stock diving an additional 13 percent, hitting a seven-year low for the second time in a week.

The hamburger giant said it will slow its rapid expansion pace abroad, where it has been opening an average of three new restaurants a day, as it invests in a U.S. initiative focused on $1 menu items, restaurant renovations and faster, friendlier service.

McDonald's cut its earnings forecast to 38 cents to 39 cents a share for the third quarter and $1.43 for the year - short of the 42 cents and $1.49 expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.