On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a motion seeking court approval of a proposed settlement under which Bank of America would pay $150 million and strengthen its corporate governance and disclosure practices to settle SEC charges.
The SEC previously filed charges against BofA in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging a failure to disclose material information about year-end bonuses and extraordinary losses to shareholders prior to their vote to approve the merger with Merrill Lynch.
Under the proposed settlement agreement, which is subject to approval by the Honorable Jed S. Rakoff, the $150 million penalty will be distributed to BofA shareholders harmed by the Bank’s alleged disclosure violations.
In a controversial order in September last year, Judge Rakoff rejected a proposed $33 million settlement between Bank of America and the SEC, after concluding that the proposed consent judgment was “neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate” to protect the public interest.
