"Bank of America to pay $33m penalty; US says investors misled on plan to pay bonuses" by Christopher S. Rugaber, Associated Press | August 4, 2009
WASHINGTON - Bank of America Corp. has agreed to pay a $33 million penalty to settle government charges it misled investors about Merrill Lynch’s plans to pay bonuses to its executives, regulators said yesterday.
In seeking approval to buy Merrill, Bank of America told investors that Merrill would not pay year-end bonuses without Bank of America’s consent. But the Securities and Exchange Commission said Bank of America had authorized New York-based Merrill to pay up to $5.8 billion in bonuses....
Bank of America agreed to pay $33 million to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations. The settlement is subject to court approval.....
Merrill ended up paying $3.6 billion in bonuses in 2008, the SEC said, even though it lost $27.6 billion that year, a record for the firm.....
