|
 Price also agreed to not serve as an officer or director of a public
company for 18 months, according to the settlement agreement.
The agreement ends the 2010 case against former Chief Executive
Kenneth Lewis, Price and Bank of America linked to the 2008 global
financial crisis. The bank and Lewis settled with New York Attorney
General Eric Schneiderman last month.
New York accused the bank's executives of concealing Merrill's
mounting losses from Bank of America shareholders prior to a
December 5, 2008 vote on the merger, and misrepresenting the impact
the merger would have on the bank's future earnings.
"This settlement is one more step in our effort to hold top
financial executives accountable for their actions," Schneiderman
said in a statement.
The bank paid the $7.5 million for Price, according to his attorney
William Jeffress, who added that his client decided to settle to
because of the toll it was taking on him and his family.
"He has denied wrongdoing all along and still denies it," Jeffress
said.
Lawrence Grayson, a spokesman for Charlotte, North Carolina-based
Bank of America, declined comment on the settlement.
Lewis agreed in March to pay $10 million to resolve claims against
him for misleading shareholders and the government in order to
complete the Merrill Lynch merger.
Bank of America agreed to pay $15 million to resolve its portion of
the lawsuit by Schneiderman, who inherited the case from his
predecessor Andrew Cuomo, now New York's governor.
[to top of second column] |
All three payments are to cover the cost of the investigation and
prosecution, according to the settlements. Neither the executives
nor the bank admit wrongdoing.
A separate $2.43 billion shareholder class action settlement won
final approval last year.
The latest settlement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The case is People v Bank of America Corp, et al, New York State
Supreme Court, New York County, No. 450115/2010.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York;
additional reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bangalore; editing by Gopakumar Warrier and
Meredith Mazzilli)
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