Judge Refuses to Confirm Sham Bank of America-SEC Settlement

Rulings like these will be good news for America:  

A judge Wednesday balked at signing off on a $33 million proposed settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America Corp. over executive bonuses.

Bank of America on Monday agreed to pay the penalty to settle government charges that it misled investors about Merrill Lynch's plans to pay bonuses to its executives.

In seeking approval to buy Merrill, Bank of America told investors that Merrill would not pay year-end bonuses without Bank of America's consent. But in its complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the SEC said Bank of America had already authorized New York-based Merrill to pay up to $5.8 billion in bonuses and didn't share that information with shareholders.

That rendered a statement Bank of America mailed to 283,000 shareholders of both companies about the Merrill deal "materially false and misleading," the SEC contends. Bank of America agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations.

But the settlement is subject to court approval, and on Wednesday Judge Jed S. Rakoff declined his consent, pending results of a hearing Monday.

In a statement late Wednesday, Rakoff said the proposed settlement "would leave uncertain the truth of the very serious allegations made in the complaint."

Judges across the country are realizing that the SEC is either incompetent or corrupt.  As a matter of separated powers, Article III judges have the constitutional obligation to serve as a check on the SEC's incompetence and corruption.  

Keep spreading the word about the SEC.  Judges are starting to understand that the judiciary is the only institution left protecting the American taxpayer.