Former Bank of America CFO Joe Price Agrees to $7.5M Settlement

By Sarah Todd April 25, 2014, 9:28 a.m. EDT 1 Min Read

B of A, Former Chief Ken Lewis to Pay $25M to Settle Merrill Case

Former Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis will pay a $10 million fine to resolve claims he misled the Charlotte, N.C., company's shareholders to secure their approval to buy Merrill Lynch.

By Sarah Todd

March 26
M&A

B of A Still Has Demons to Battle After Big Merrill Settlement

Bank of America said Friday it would pay $2.43 billion to settle a shareholder lawsuit over its purchase of Merrill Lynch, in an expensive effort to resolve one of many problems it faces from the financial crisis.

By Maria Aspan

September 28
Consumer banking

B of A Will Dissolve Merrill Lynch Unit While Keeping Name

Merrill Lynch & Co., the 99-year-old firm known for its "thundering herd" of brokers pitching stocks to Main Street, may cease to exist as a legal entity more than four years after being acquired by Bank of America Corp.

August 16

Former Bank of America Chief Financial Officer Joe Price has agreed to a $7.5 million fine to settle charges he deceived shareholders to push through the company's acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

Price was also banned from serving as an officer or director of a public company for 18 months under a settlement with New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. A lawyer representing Price did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bank of America (BAC) will pay the $7.5 million fee on behalf of Price, according to the Attorney General's office.

The deal concludes the case filed against Price, Bank of America and former Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis in 2010 by the Attorney General's office. The case alleged that the company and the former executives withheld information about Merrill Lynch's multibillion-dollar forecasted losses from shareholders in order to obtain their approval for the $50 billion acquisition in December 2008. The deal cost Bank of America billions of dollars in losses and helped bring about a $20 billion government bailout.

B of A and Lewis reached settlements over their roles in the troubled Merrill acquisition in late March. Bank of America agreed to pay $15 million and to cover Lewis's $10 million fine. The Charlotte, N.C., company also agreed to implement several corporate governance reforms. Lewis agreed to refrain from serving as an officer or director of a public company for the next three years.

Sarah Todd

Deputy Editor, BankThink