The Securities and Exchange of Commission (SEC) has tried since last August to get Rakoff to sign off on a settlement with BofA over the bank’s hiding $3.6 billion in bonuses to Merrill Lynch executives from bank shareholders while buying up the investment house back in 2008. SEC lawyers originally wanted BofA to pay $33 million for its mistake—an amount Rakoff labeled “unreasonable” and later “worst than pointless” while rejecting it three times last year.

 

Finally, the SEC ramped up its penalty to $150 million, which earned Rakoff’s reluctant approval. Still, the judge was not happy, believing BofA was not getting what it deserved. “While better than nothing, this is half-baked justice at best,” Rakoff wrote in his opinion.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Judge Accepts S.E.C.’s Deal With Bank of America (by Louise Story, New York Times)

Judge Reluctantly Clears $150M BofA Settlement (by Annie Youderian, Courthouse News Service)

SEC v. Bank of America (U.S. District Court, Southern New York) (pdf)

Bank of America Settles With SEC, But Back in Court with New York Attorney General (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Judge Rejects SEC-Bank of America Settlement as “Worse than Pointless” (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

SEC and Bank of America Fight Back in Court over Weak Bonuses Penalty (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Federal Judge Asks Why SEC Accepting Puny Penalty from Bank of America (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)