SEC Charges Merrill Lynch for Failure to Supervise RMBS Traders

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. will pay more than $15 million to settle charges that its employees misled customers into overpaying for Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS). Merrill Lynch agreed to repay more than $10.5 million to its customers and to pay penalties of approximately $5.2 million. In its order, the SEC found that Merrill Lynch traders and salespersons convinced the bank’s customers to overpay for RMBS by deceiving them about the price Merrill Lynch paid to acquire the securities. The order also found that Merrill Lynch’s RMBS traders and salespersons illegally profited from excessive, undisclosed commissions – called “mark-ups” – which in some cases were more than twice the amount the customers should have paid.