Even though the rejected Securities and Exchange Commission settlement with Bank of America for alleged disclosure deficiencies in Bank of America’s merger with Merrill Lynch has been getting all the attention, the securities class action against the company that is pending in New York federal court could end up being more important—at least in terms of the bank’s liability.
On Monday, the lead plaintiffs in In re Bank of America Corp., 09 MDL 2058—an ad hoc group of public pension funds from Texas, Ohio, the Netherlands and Sweden— filed their consolidated class action complaint against Bank of America, certain directors and officers, including CEO Kenneth Lewis, and former Merrill CEO John Thain.
