Merrill Lynch office (Photo: AP)
Three Merrill Lynch insiders will get more than $83 million from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission – the biggest-ever payouts — for providing information that helped the agency bring a 2016 case against Bank of America, their attorney said Monday.
Two of the people will split $50 million and a third will get an award of more than $33 million for providing help in the same case, the SEC said in its statement Monday. The agency gave no information on the three tipsters or which company was involved in the case, citing federal law requiring protection of whistle-blowers' confidentiality.
Jordan Thomas, an attorney with Labaton Sucharow, said he represented the Merrill insiders but declined to name them or say whether they still worked for the Bank of America unit. The three provided information that helped the SEC win a $415 million settlement with the bank in 2016 for engaging in complex transactions to reduce the amount of client funds that had to be set aside in reserve accounts.
"By coming forward, these courageous executives protected millions of Merrill Lynch's customers, but their impact is far greater than that," Thomas said in a statement. "They are a shining example of integrity in action and will inspire others on Wall Street to break their silence."
Thomas said "a substantial part" of the award will be donated to charities.
