NEW YORK: Bank of America Corp and FleetBoston Financial Corp have agreed to pay a combined US$675mil to resolve charges that they helped favoured clients trade mutual funds improperly at the expense of ordinary investors.
The settlement, the largest of its kind, marks another step in New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzers drive to root out abuses in the US$7.5 trillion mutual fund industry. Spitzer announced the settlement jointly with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday.