U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff today rejected the proposed settlement between the SEC and Bank of America Corp. The WSJ reports that Judge Rakoff set a February 1 trial date for the SEC’s lawsuit.
In an order issued today, Judge Rakoff ruled that “even upon applying the most deferential standard of review,” he was “forced to conclude that the proposed consent judgment is neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate” to protect the public interest. The settlement, he concluded, would force the alleged victims (Bank of America shareholders), not the culpable executives, to pay the $33 million settlement.
