Bank of America misreported its capital from 2009 to 2013 because it didn't realize losses on a portfolio of structured notes and other financial products it acquired in its purchase of Merrill Lynch, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement today.
Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan, who has led the bank since 2010, has been working for years to resolve headaches inherited with the purchases under his predecessor of Merrill Lynch and mortgage-lender Countrywide Financial Corp. during the financial crisis. After discovering the capital overstatements in April, the bank disclosed them in a regulatory filing and cooperated with the SEC's investigation, the agency said.
"The federal securities laws require all public companies to maintain accurate books and records as well as a system of internal accounting controls," said Michael Osnato, chief of an SEC enforcement unit that focuses on complex financial instruments.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
