Bank of America Corp agreed to pay US$62.5 million to resolve investor claims that the bank’s directors mishandled the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co, company officials said.
US District Judge Kevin Castel in New York on Friday approved Bank of America’s offer to add US$42.5 million to a US$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 he had questions about the “fairness, reasonableness and adequacy” of the original accord, according to court filings.
“We supported the terms of the settlement and we are gratified that the matter has been resolved,” Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Grayson said in a telephone interview on Friday.
Resolution of the claims against Bank of America’s board clears the way for Castel to focus on whether to bless a more than US$2.4 billion settlement of other investors’ securities- fraud claims over the Merrill Lynch deal.
The shareholders claimed former chief executive officer Kenneth Lewis and other board members misled them about the losses Merrill Lynch incurred before the US$18.5 billion buyout and should have pulled the plug on the deal.
New York-based Merrill Lynch, founded by Charles Merrill in 1914, suffered at least US$50 billion in losses and writedowns linked to the collapse of the US subprime mortgage market before agreeing to the sale.
Castel raised questions about the original US$20 million settlement of Bank of America shareholders’ claims against Lewis and other directors after investors who had sued in Delaware over the handling of the Merrill Lynch deal challenged it.
They argued that the accord amounted to just 4 percent of the US$500 million in insurance Bank of America bought to cover directors and less than 1 percent of the more than US$2.4 billion it agreed to resolve securities-fraud claims over the Merrill buyout. The settlement also would wipe out the Delaware claims, they said.
The US$20 million settlement also amounted to about 13 percent of the US$150 million fine the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) levied against Bank of America in 2010 over the Merrill Lynch purchase.
The SEC accused Bank of America in August 2009 of failing to disclose to investors it had agreed to let Merrill Lynch pay as much as US$5.8 billion in employee bonuses and incentives.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
RSS