Under separate settlements reached with New York state regulators, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank will soon buy back at least $12.5 billion in auction-rate securities and pay $162.5 million in fines, RedOrbit reports.
The deals are the latest to emerge from state and federal investigations that have entangled about 30 Wall Street companies, from global banks to discount and regional brokerage firms. Investors were told that auction-rate debt was as safe and liquid as cash, but after the market collapsed earlier this year, they were unable to sell the securities.
In earlier settlements, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley,
UBS and
Wachovia agreed to buy back $35 billion of the securities and pay more than $360 million in fines. Several other companies, including
Bank of America, are negotiating deals.
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