Southern District of New York Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Monday “reluctantly” approved a $150 million agreement (pdf) between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America Corp., which settles allegations that the bank failed to make required disclosures in connection with its $50 billion takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co. in 2008.
Before reaching his decision (pdf), the judge reviewed hundreds of pages of discovery materials released last week to determine whether the bank’s management or attorneys intentionally withheld material information from shareholders before they voted to approve the acquisition.
