Bank Of America (BAC): A Very Small Fine For A Very Big Mistake

Bank of America (BAC) got off with a $33 million fine “to settle charges that it made false and misleading statements” about bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch employees. The case what brought by the SEC.

Bank of America had said in filings that Merrill had agreed not to pay out bonuses until January 31, 2009, unless the bank gave specific permission to Merrill to do so. As it turned out, BAC had given permission to the brokerage to pay $3.6 billion in incentive compensation for 2008, after leaving the impression that the permission had not already been granted.

The fine seems small given the amount of shareholder money that went to employees at Merrill for performance in a year in which the company almost went out of business.

Douglas A. McIntyre