Tell us how you really feel, Your Honor

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff—previously seen refusing to equate Marc Dreier with Bernie Madoff—rejected a $33 million settlement between the SEC and the Bank of America concerning the latter’s non-disclosure of an agreement to pay billions of Merrill Lynch bonuses.  The judge’s opinion was scathing, characterizing the proposed settlement as a pretense aimed at providing the SEC with the “facade of enforcement and the management of the bank with a quick resolution to an embarrassing inquiry."  Moreover, "The notion that Bank of America shareholders, having been lied to blatantly in connection with the multibillion-dollar purchase of a huge, nearly bankrupt company, need to lose another $33 million ... in order to 'better assess the quality and performance of management' is absurd."

                                -posted by brian