Also. . .

* The Federal Communications Commission’s Richard Metzger said he will leave the agency next month and hasn’t decided yet what he will do next. Metzger, chief of the FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau, played a key role in implementing a 1996 Telecommunications Act, the biggest overhaul of U.S. policy in more than 60 years. He joined the FCC in 1993.

* Washington Mutual Inc. named Craig J. Chapman, an executive with finance company Amresco, chief executive of its Aristar consumer finance unit and said it plans to expand the business. Seattle-based Washington Mutual acquired Aristar, which offers loans at high interest rates to consumers with flawed credit records, as part of last year’s takeover of Chatsworth-based Great Western Financial Corp.

* British Airways got the go-ahead to launch its new low-cost airline, Go, next week, after a judge in London refused a rival carrier’s request to block it. But the judge refused to dismiss EasyJet’s lawsuit accusing British Airways of unfair competition.

* Continental Airlines Inc. agreed to buy 49% of Panamanian airline Cia. Panamena de Aviacion, known as Copa, for an undisclosed amount to expand its service to Latin America. The agreement, which requires government approval, includes a partnership to let the airlines sell seats on each other’s flights.

* Drugstore operator CVS Corp. said its board approved a 2-for-1 stock split and boosted its dividend 4.5% to 46 cents a share.