Judge Approves BofA Settlement Fund Over Merrill

A federal judge approved the creation of a $150 million fund for Bank of America (BAC) shareholders as part of a settlement with the SEC over the bank’s 2009 acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The SEC alleged in a lawsuit filed last year that BofA, in the months before it bought the investment bank in January 2009, failed to disclose $3.6 billion in bonuses Merrill paid its employees and $15.8 billion in 4Q’08 losses at the investment bank.- Reuters