U.S. District Court Jed S. Rakoff of the SDNY recently put the brakes on the SEC’s proposed settlement with Bank of America, demanding more information from the parties. The NY Times reports that today, the SEC and BofA will both file reports with the court detailing who knew what about $3.6 billion in bonuses paid out by Merrill Lynch just before Bank of America acquired it.
In an interview with the NYT, Judge Rakoff said that decades ago when he was a prosecutor in the SDNY, the office’s philosophy “was if a crime had been committed, it was important to discover who the persons were who made the wrongful decisions.” It remains unclear who at BofA knew what about Merrill’s bonuses, but Judge Rakoff will release today’s filings from the bank and the SEC. The judge did not discuss his plans for the settlement but lawyers told the NYT he may hold another hearing with both sides after receiving the filings and responses he has requested.
