SEC Fraud

The SEC announced today that they have reached a settlement with Merrill Lynch that would help investors recover up to $7 billion by selling mortgage backed securities to the giant financial company.

The largest U.S. brokerage will buy back the securities from thousands of investors under a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and other state regulators over its role in selling the high-risk bonds to retail investors. Under that deal, announced Thursday, Merrill agreed to hasten its voluntary buyback plan by repurchasing $10 billion to $12 billion of the securities from investors by Jan. 2.

In addition to this settlement, Merrill also agreed to pay a $125 million fine to state regulators.

Merrill Lynch settlement with SEC worth up to $7B [Associated Press]