JPMorgan told to fix risk policies

JPMorgan told to fix risk policies

WASHINGTON

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has been ordered to take steps to correct poor risk management that led to a surprise trading loss last year of more than $6 billion.

Federal regulators also are citing the nation’s largest bank for lapses in control that allowed the bank to be used for money laundering.

JPMorgan will not pay a fine under the agreements with the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, a Treasury Department agency. JPMorgan promised to strengthen its policies and procedures to control risk and to screen customers to prevent money laundering.

JPMorgan in May disclosed that its London office lost billions in trades designed to hedge against risk. The bank later said that some traders had tried to hide the size of the losses.

E-book reading on rise among kids

NEW YORK

E-books finally may be catching on with the toughest of customers: young people.

A report commissioned by children’s publisher Scholastic Inc. finds that 46 percent of respondents age 9-17 had read an e-book as of 2012, compared with just 25 percent in 2010. And about half of those who have not read an e-book say they want to do so. But the appeal of paper remains. About 80 percent of kids who read an e-book still read print books, according to Monday’s report.

Though e-books are believed to comprise around 25 percent to 30 percent of total book sales, the number has been much lower among children.

Home prices rise by most in 6 years

LOS ANGELES

A measure of U.S. home prices rose in 2012 by the most in six years, buoyed by stronger demand, a lower inventory of unsold homes and fewer sales of bank-owned properties.

Real-estate data provider CoreLogic says its home price index, which is based on repeat sales of the same properties, climbed 7.5 percent last year. That’s the biggest annual increase since 2006.

From wire reports