Merrill Lynch Fined $425M For Misleading Investors and Misusing Their Assets
Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:57 pm
Bank of America’s broker-dealer arm, Merrill Lynch, has agreed to pay $425 million to resolve several accusations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to two separate announcements from the agency.
The SEC said its investigation found multiple types of Merrill violations involving customer protection rules and misleading investors on structured notes.
US watchdog accused Merrill Lynch of two sets of violations. First, instead of keeping customers’ investments in a safe reserve account, from 2009 through 2012 it engaged in “complex options trades that lacked economic substance, allowing freed up billions of dollars per week that Merrill Lynch used to finance ... (read more)