Bank of America dishes out big settlement on Merrill Lynch allegations

$2.43 bil. the cost of a legal settlement between Bank of America and shareholders source

This time the piper pays: A group of shareholders and investors alleged that Bank of America misled them in 2008 regarding the institutional health of Merrill Lynch, prior to its acquisition by BofA, hiding huge losses mounting on the floundering bank’s record. This is the largest class-action settlement to emerge from the financial crisis, and there’s a reason if companies seem so eager to settle – doing so can limit further action that might be taken by attorneys general, in this case New York AG Eric Schneiderman.