JPMorgan pays $211 million to settle bid-rigging case

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay $211 million after admitting one of its divisions rigged dozens of bidding competitions to win business from state and local governments.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC made at least 93 secret deals with companies that handled the bidding processes in 31 states, the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday. Those deals allowed the bank to peek at competitors’ offers.

JPMorgan’s settlement covers complaints brought by the SEC, the Internal Revenue Service, bank regulators and 25 state attorneys general. Nearly a quarter of the money will go toward settling civil fraud charges brought by the SEC. A large portion will be divided among states, in part to pay restitution to victims of the fraud.

Appeals court restores ban on media cross-ownership

A federal appeals court has restored a longstanding ban that prevents media companies from owning a newspaper and a television station in the same market.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said Thursday that the Federal Communications Commission didn’t give the public adequate opportunity to comment on new rules that lifted the ban in the 20 largest media markets. The appeals court sent the rules back to the FCC to be rewritten.

The so-called cross-ownership ban dates back to 1975 — a time when newspapers dominated the media industry. In 2007, then-FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Bush administration appointee, moved to ease those restrictions in the biggest media markets.

European Central Bank boosts key interest rate

The European Central Bank raised its key interest rate on Thursday and hinted at more to come, the latest sign that it will not be derailed by the debt crisis in its mission to fight inflation.

The bank nevertheless agreed to extend emergency liquidity to Portuguese banks, as it has done with Greece and Ireland, even though one of the major ratings agencies downgraded the country’s bonds to junk status.

Thursday’s quarter-point hike, to 1.5 percent, was the second this year and widely expected by markets despite a global slowdown and the debt crisis, which almost caused Greece to default this month.

Buffett gives $1.5 billion in stock to Gates Foundation

Investor Warren Buffett has made his annual gift of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, turning over about $1.5 billion worth of stock.

According to a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Buffett donated 19.34 million Class B shares of the company’s stock.

The closing price of Class B shares on Thursday was $77.77.

The gift is the fifth installment in Buffett’s plan to transfer the majority of his wealth to the Seattle- based foundation run by the Microsoft Corp. co-founder and his wife. The foundation is the world’s largest with an endowment of $37.1 billion as of March 31.

Price of oil rising again; gas prices following suit

Two weeks after the United States and other oil-importing nations took action that knocked down the price of oil to almost $90 a barrel, it’s back around $100. And gas pump prices, which had dropped since May, are up about a nickel since last Friday.

Oil is rising again as investors bet that the economies of many countries will improve in the second half of the year, and global demand for petroleum will rise.

Benchmark oil for August delivery rose $2.02, or 2.1 percent, to settle at $98.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Higher oil prices mean higher gas prices. The national average price rose 1.4 cents on Thursday to $3.583 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

— From news service reports