Broadcom’s hostile takeover attempt of Qualcomm could pose a national security risk because of Qualcomm’s leadership in developing critical semiconductor technology, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Qualcomm’s sale to Singapore-based Broadcom could hurt the chipmaker’s competitiveness by reducing research and development, which would threaten U.S. security, the Treasury Department said in a March 5 letter released by Qualcomm on Tuesday. Harm to Qualcomm’s innovation would allow China to expand its influence in key wireless technology, the government said.

The United States “has identified potential national security concerns that warrant a full investigation of the proposed transaction,” the Treasury Department said.

The Treasury Department also cited the Defense Department’s reliance on products made by Qualcomm, which is based in San Diego. The company has “active sole source classified prime contracts” with the Pentagon, according to the letter.

— Bloomberg News

McDonald’s said Tuesday that it is serving Quarter Pounders with fresh beef rather than frozen patties at about a quarter of its U.S. restaurants, a switch it first announced about a year ago as it works to appeal to customers who want fresher foods. It will roll out fresh beef Quarter Pounders to most of its 14,000 U.S. restaurants by May.

The fast-food giant, which has relied on frozen patties since the 1970s, said workers will cook up the fresh beef on a grill when the burger is ordered. “The result is a hotter, juicier, great-tasting burger,” said Chris Kempczinski, who oversees McDonald’s restaurants in the United States.

Its pricier “Signature Crafted” burgers, stuffed with guacamole or bacon, will also be made with fresh beef because they use the same-size patty as the Quarter Pounder. The Big Mac and its other burgers, however, will still be made with frozen beef.

McDonald’s has signaled that it may use fresh beef in more burgers. This year, the company confirmed that it was testing a fresh beef burger that used a patty that was slightly smaller than the one in the Quarter Pounder.

— Associated Press

The New York Stock Exchange and its sister markets were fined $14 million by federal securities regulators for including missteps in dealing with a 3½- hour trading halt in July 2015 and a wild trading session that roiled exchange-traded funds a month later.

The exchanges didn’t have proper rules in place, violated some they did have and in some cases broke the law, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in an order released Tuesday. The markets, all divisions of Intercontinental Exchange, settled without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings.

The July 2015 outage froze one of the world’s biggest financial markets. In the 47 minutes before the halt began, NYSE and NYSE American “experienced escalating connectivity problems” between their trading systems and computers customers use to access the exchanges.

— Bloomberg News

Royal Bank of Scotland has reached a $500 million settlement with New York state to resolve charges it misled investors by selling risky mortgage securities that contributed to the 2008 global financial crisis. The deal announced Tuesday by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman calls for the British bank to pay $100 million to the state and provide $400 million of relief to homeowners and communities. RBS admitted to having in 2006 and 2007 misled investors into believing the residential mortgage-backed securities it sold were properly underwritten and complied with the law.

Airbnb hired Greg Greeley, the head of Amazon.com’s Prime business, as president of its main home-rental unit. Greeley helped Amazon expand the Prime service internationally. He announced his resignation Monday on LinkedIn. Greeley, who will start March 18, is expected to oversee a slew of new initiatives designed to broaden Airbnb’s appeal. Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.

BlackBerry filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Facebook and its WhatsApp and Instagram apps on Tuesday, saying they copied technology and features from BlackBerry Messenger. “Defendants created mobile messaging applications that co-opt BlackBerry’s innovations, using a number of the innovative security, user interface, and functionality enhancing features,” BlackBerry said in a filing with a Los Angeles federal court. Facebook Deputy General Counsel Paul Grewal said Facebook intends to fight the lawsuit.