Merrill Lynch Announces Auction Rate Securities Regulatory Settlement

Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) announced today that it has reached a global resolution with the New York Attorney General and state securities regulators to resolve issues related to sales of auction-rate securities. The firm also reached an agreement in principle with the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission. "After meeting personally today with Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and North American Securities Administrators Association President Karen Tyler, I am pleased to report that we have reached an amicable resolution and global settlement of this matter," said John A. Thain, chairman and chief executive officer. "I want to thank them for their leadership and would also like to thank all of the regulators for their efforts in this process. We will accelerate the plans we first announced two weeks ago for... [read full story]