Bank of America Corp. agreed to pay $62.5 million to resolve investor claims that the bank’s directors mishandled the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co., Bloomberg News reported yesterday. U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel in New York on Friday approved Bank of America’s offer to add $42.5 million to a $20 million settlement of shareholder lawsuits alleging the bank’s board allowed executives to overpay for Merrill Lynch in 2009. Castel indicated in a Jan. 4 order that he had questions about the “fairness, reasonableness and adequacy” of the original accord, according to court filings. Resolution of the claims against Bank of America’s board clears the way for Castel to focus on whether to bless a more than $2.4 billion settlement of other investors’ securities-fraud claims over the Merrill Lynch deal.
