Briefs

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters stripped founder Robert Stiller of his chairman title after he broke company rules by selling shares to meet a margin call on loans secured by his stock in the company. Stiller, who served as chief executive officer until May 2007, sold $125.5 million of his Green Mountain shares on May 7 after the company’s stock fell 48 percent, prompting lenders to demand more collateral on outstanding loans. The single-cup coffee brewer is battling increased competition from Starbucks and other suppliers. Stiller told CNBC on May 8 that he didn’t break any regulations or laws and said he was “shocked and hurt” by the move.

As the government seeks to recover bailout funds, the U.S. Treasury gave the go-ahead for Ally Financial, the auto lender majority-owned by taxpayers, to put its ResCap mortgage unit into bankruptcy, according to an Obama administration official, who asked for anonymity because the plans aren’t public. ResCap was one of the largest originators of subprime mortgages until record defaults led to billions in losses. Bondholders support the filing, said people with direct knowledge of the talks.