The Federal Reserve has approved a request by GMAC Financial Services, the financing arm of General Motors Corp., to become a bank holding company, the Associated Press reported. The move will allow GMAC to apply for money from the government’s $700 billion bailout program. Without the approval, GMAC might have been forced into bankruptcy protection. The decision comes just five days after the Bush administration said it would use some of the bailout funding to offer emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler LLC to give them time to restructure and avoid bankruptcy.

Pomerantz Haudek Block Grossman & Gross LLP has filed a class-action lawsuit against General Growth Properties Inc. and certain officers of the company, alleging that the company misled investors about its financial condition. According to a press release from the law firm, the class action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, on behalf of purchasers of General Growth’s common stock between April 30 and Oct. 26 of this year. The company’s stock price has fallen from a 52-week high of $44.23 to a closing price on Wednesday of $1.10. General Growth owns and operates Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines.

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense agency, is accepting nominations for the 2009 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. National Guard and Reserve members and their families are eligible to nominate employers who have supported their military employees. Nominations are due Jan. 19. For more information, go to www.freedomaward.mil.