Announced Friday by the New York attorney general's office, the settlement resolves one of the last remaining major actions filed against individual corporate executives in the wake of the national financial crisis. Former Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis agreed to a similar $10 million settlement in March.
As part of the settlement, Price also agreed to an order barring him from serving as an officer or director of any public company for 18 months. He neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing.
Price had previously denied doing anything improper and said he had raised questions with bank lawyers about whether the losses should be disclosed, his attorney, William Jeffress, said Friday. The former executive agreed to the settlement "to end the toll of the litigation on himself, his family and his career," said Jeffress, who indicated Bank of America is funding the cost.
The nation's second-largest bank agreed to buy the New York-headquartered brokerage and investment manager in late 2008 during the height of the financial crisis. The acquisition was completed in January 2009 after shareholders approved the deal.
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A New York lawsuit filed in 2010 alleged that Charlotte-based Bank of America and its top executives improperly withheld information about the true extent of Merrill Lynch's ballooning losses.
"Today's action sends a message that conduct harming investors, shareholders and the public will not go unpunished," Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. "I'm pleased to close the final chapter in our litigation over Bank of America's merger with Merrill."
Schneiderman continued! the case originally filed by predecessor Andrew Cuomo, who's now New York's governor.
Merrill Lynch, which absorbed Bank of America's securities unit, has become one of the bank's most profitable business units in recent years.
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