Judge approves Bank of America's Merrill settlement

NEW YORK: A US federal judge has conditionally approved Bank of America's proposed 150 million dollar settlement with regulators over its takeover of Merrill Lynch, a court official said Monday.

Judge Jed Rakoff of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York approved the settlement reached this year between Bank of America and the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), an official in the judge's office told AFP.

If the judge had rejected the settlement, the dispute would have gone to trial next week.

Under the deal announced by the SEC, Bank of America would pay 150 million dollars to settle charges that it had misled its shareholders about the Merrill takeover.

The settlement amount was almost five times more than a previous 33-million-dollar proposal rejected by Rakoff last September.