Latest Legal News: Decision on the BofA-SEC Settlement Due Monday

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BofA Reality Show Update: Cuomo Gives Judge the Minimum; BofA Objects. Decision Due Monday.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo responded to Judge Rakoff's request for the record underlying his more sinister view of Bank of America's (BAC) failure to disclose Merrill Lynch's losses before shareholders voted on the merger by giving the judge the minimum he asked for: excerpts from five deposition transcripts, for his eyes only. BofA objected to Cuomo giving the judge anything at all, given that the N.Y. AG isn't a party to its litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and it argued that if Cuomo turned over anything at all, it should be the full transcripts, not out-of-context excerpts. The bank also argued that anything turned over be made part of the public record. So, now that Judge Rakoff has the excerpts, what's he going to do on Monday, when he's promised to rule on the proposed BofA-SEC settlement? If Cuomo's excerpts are juicy enough, expect the judge to reject the settlement and allow the trial to go forward on March 1. If the judge accepts the settlement on Monday, it'll be an implicit statement that Cuomo didn't back up his claims strongly enough.

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