Bank of America's Merrill Lynch brokerage unit agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine in Massachusetts to settle charges that it failed to follow its own compliance rules, the state's top securities regulator said on Monday.
Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin accused Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith of failing to supervise employees properly when the company made two presentations in January 2013 to financial advisers and others in Boston before properly vetting the material with its compliance department.
The presentations were aimed at helping financial advisers increase their business and manage services provided to clients. One section discussed transferring client assets from commission-based brokerage accounts to fiduciary fee-based accounts but failed to include language about clients' suitability for such switches, Galvin said in a statement.
"We are reiterating to our employees the need to have internal presentations properly approved before their use," a Bank of America spokesman said, adding that no clients were harmed by the matter.
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