(AP)The Spanish government has filed claims in U.S. federal court over a shipwreck that a Florida firm found laden with colonial-era treasure, an attorney said Thursday.

If the vessel was Spanish or was removed from that country’s waters, any treasure would belong to Spain, said James Goold, an attorney representing the government.

“It’s a very well established principle under Spanish, U.S. and international law that a government such as the kingdom of Spain has not abandoned its sunken ships or sunken property, and that a company like Odyssey Marine Exploration may not conduct recovery operations without authorization by the government,” he said.

“The kingdom of Spain has not authorized any such operations by Odyssey, and by these legal actions it will see the return of any Spanish property Odyssey has recovered,” Goold said of the claims filed Wednesday.

“Spain has decided to go to (the) courts to claim its right in case the discovery is Spanish,” Susana Tello, Culture Ministry spokeswoman.

Phone messages and an e-mail left for Odyssey officials were not immediately returned early Thursday.

Odyssey announced two weeks ago that it had discovered a shipwreck containing 500,000 gold and silver coins somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. The Tampa-based company said the site was outside any country’s territorial waters but would not give the exact location or name of the ship.

Odyssey has said that the ship was not in Spanish territorial waters and was not the HMS Sussex, a shipwreck that Odyssey recently got permission from the Spanish government to search for in the Strait of Gibraltar.

But Spain has called the new discovery suspicious and said the booty may have come from a wrecked Spanish galleon.

In Britain, the find generated press reports that Odyssey had salvaged the wreck of the long-sought British vessel Merchant Royal, which sank in bad weather off England in 1641. Odyssey has not confirmed or denied these reports.

Spain is using the U.S. law firm Covington & Burling, which has represented Spain over shipwreck cases before, including the recovery of material from two ships, Juno and La Galga, in a 2000 court case. The Spanish government won the case at that time.

(12-24) 06:26 PST Norwalk, Conn. (AP) —

GE Capital, the financial unit of General Electric Co., said Monday it will acquire the bulk of the Merrill Lynch Capital commercial finance operations, allowing Merrill to redeploy about $1.3 billion into other parts of its business.

GE said the acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, will also add $5 billion in commitments to GE Capital Commercial Finance’s base of $260 billion.

“These strong units fit perfectly with existing and very successful GE Capital businesses,” Mike Neal, vice chairman of GE said.

GE Capital will buy Merrill Lynch Capital’s corporate finance, equipment finance, franchise, energy and health care finance units. Merrill Lynch Capital’s commercial real estate finance unit is not part of the transaction.

“This transaction reflects Merrill Lynch’s continued strategic focus on divesting noncore assets and optimizing capital allocation, while also enabling the redeployment of approximately $1.3 billion of capital into other parts of our business,” said John A. Thain, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the parent company of Merrill Lynch Capital.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.

Merrill has been trying to raise capital to help bail it out of huge losses related to the subprime mortgage crisis. Merrill has already taken $7.9 billion of writedowns from bad bets on risky mortgage-backed securities. Global banks have written down an estimated $105 billion this year alone from exposure to mortgage-backed securities.

On Friday, Merrill’s shares rose on a report that the nation’s biggest brokerage is seeking a $5 billion investment from Singapore’s state-owned investment agency Temasek Holdings.

GE Capital offers businesses around the globe an array of financial products and services. It’s Commercial Finance unit has assets of over $260 billion and has its headquarters in Norwalk, Conn.

(12-24) 06:24 PST LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) —

MAXjet Airways said Monday it had filed for bankruptcy, taking what the all-business class airline called a “drastic measure” because of soaring fuel prices and the deteriorating credit market.

The bankruptcy forced MAXjet to reserve hotel rooms for stranded holiday passengers who had booked return flights between New York and London. The carrier was also working with another airline to find alternative routes, officials said.

In a message posted on the airline’s Web site, president and chief executive William Stockbridge said the Dulles, Va.-based airline had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“With today’s fuel prices and the resulting impact on the credit climate for airlines, we are forced to take this drastic measure,” Stockbridge said. “Our top priority is to assist our customers, particularly those who already have begun their travel with us, in securing alternative flight accommodations.”

MAXjet launched in 2005 and offered “all-premium” flights between London’s Stansted Airport, New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

The airline also advised customers who had booked tickets to seek refunds from their travel agency or credit card company.

The carrier said trading in its shares on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market Д halted earlier this month “pending clarification of its financial position” Д would remain suspended. MAXjet shares last traded at 73.5 pence ($1.45).

Hotel rooms were being booked in London, New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles through early January 2008.