Northwest Biotherapeutics will file its 2006 annual report late, the Bothell company indicated in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The small developer of anti-cancer vaccines said additional time is needed to gather information relating to a transaction that occurred last year. The delay is not caused by the need to restate any previous financial results, the company assured in its delay notice.

New finance officer hired for Starbucks

Starbucks Corp. said Tuesday it has hired Peter Bocian of NCR Corp. to replace Michael Casey, the company’s longtime chief financial officer. Casey, who also serves as an executive vice president and chief administrative officer, is moving to a senior advisory position with the world’s largest specialty coffee retailer. According to regulatory filings, Bocian’s annual salary will be $575,000. He also will get a $500,000 signing bonus and a guaranteed minimum bonus of $287,500 for the 2007 fiscal year.

As tensions ease, crude oil prices fall

Crude oil prices settled and dropped more than $1 a barrel Tuesday as tensions eased in the standoff between Britain and Iran over captive British military personnel. Prices had risen steadily since 15 British sailors and marines were detained March 23 by Iran for allegedly entering Iranian waters. On Monday, crude finished below $66 a barrel, paring earlier gains after Iran’s chief international negotiator called for an end to “the language of force” in the dispute. Light, sweet crude for May delivery lost $1.30 to settle at $64.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

European Union investigating Apple

The deals Apple Inc. struck with record labels to stock its European iTunes stores may violate EU competition rules, regulators said Tuesday. Apple and the record companies were notified of an investigation into their agreements after regulators built up a “very strong case,” said European Union spokesman Jonathan Todd. People can only download singles or albums from the iTunes store in their country of residence – a policy that amounts to unlawful “territorial sales restrictions,” the commission said. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said the company wanted to operate a single store for all of Europe, but music labels and publishers said there were limits to the rights they could grant to Apple.

Airbus audit finds no sales slush fund

An internal audit of Airbus sales campaigns, ordered after allegations of slush funds appeared in news reports, turned up no irregularities, parent company EADS said Tuesday. Meanwhile, several thousand workers demonstrated Tuesday for a third time to protest a restructuring plan at Airbus, which would cost 10,000 jobs in Europe, 4,300 of them in France. The demonstration came a day before unions meet with Airbus chief Louis Gallois, who is an EADS co-chairman.

From Herald staff and news services