Posted on Thu, Mar. 15, 2007

Bank of America fined for misusing research
By OTIS BILODEAU
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Bank of America Corp. was fined $26 million by regulators, ending a six-year investigation into the company's misuse of its own analysts' research.

The bank let its salesmen and traders find out about forthcoming reports and tried to profit by trading before they were published, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement Wednesday. The bank's analysts also issued false research, hyping companies to win banking business, the SEC said.

"We are determined to plug the improper leak of information on Wall Street," Linda Thomsen, the director of enforcement at the Washington-based SEC, said in the statement.

The bank "neither admits nor denies the factual allegations of the order," Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton said Wednesday in a statement. "We believe it is in the best interest of the corporation and our shareholders to settle this matter at this time."

The case has already cost Bank of America $10 million. The SEC levied the fine in 2004, after accusing the bank of withholding documents and lying to investigators during the probe.

http://www.star-telegram.com/100/story/37484.html