In a lawsuit filed by shareholders, claims were made against Bank of America that said the bank and its officers made misleading or false statements about the financial health of the company and Merrill Lynch, which it acquired during the financial crisis. Now, Bank of America has agreed to pay $2.43 billion to settle the lawsuit.
The settlement was announced on Friday and Bank of America said that it still denies the claims made by the shareholders. The bank said that it agreed to the settlement so it could rid themselves of the uncertainties, the costs from the lawsuit and the burden.
“As we work to put these long-standing issues behind us, our primary focus is on the future and serving our customers and clients,” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in a statement.
According to the investors who were the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the settlement is the largest for such a claim.
“We are very pleased that the settlement will recoup a substantial portion of the losses incurred by (Bank of America) shareholders,” Brian Guthrie, executive director of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, said in a statement. “The magnitude of the recovery reinforces the important role that pension funds play when they serve as lead plaintiffs in securities actions.”
Judge Kevin Castel, from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, has to review the settlement and approve it.