- Merrill Lynch Benefit Access Program
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- Merrill Lynch Benefits Information Center
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) makes available certain investment products sponsored, managed, distributed, or provided by companies that are affiliates of Bank of America Corporation (“BofA Corp.”). Merrill Lynch Travel Advisors and Merrill Lynch Concierge are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; Access your account information any time at MyMerrill.com or bankofamerica.com; Leading Security. Rest assured knowing you will not be held liable for fraudulent purchases with $0 Liability Guarantee.
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as 'MLPF&S' or 'Merrill') makes available certain investment products sponsored, managed, distributed or provided by companies that are affiliates of Bank of America Corporation ('BofA Corp.' You don’t need a computer to keep up with your employer-sponsored benefit plans. With the free Benefits OnLine® Mobile app, you’ll have easy access to your benefit plans with Merrill, virtually 24/7. Find out how easy it is to: Manage your accounts. Check your account balances, detailed holdings a.
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Merrill Lynch Benefit Access Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2018-108
Washington D.C., June 19, 2018 —
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith with misleading customers about how it handled their orders. Merrill Lynch agreed to settle the charges, admit wrongdoing, and pay a $42 million penalty.
According to the SEC’s order, Merrill Lynch falsely informed customers that it had executed millions of orders internally when it actually had routed them for execution at other broker-dealers, including proprietary trading firms and wholesale market makers. Merrill Lynch called this practice “masking.” Masking entailed reprogramming Merrill Lynch’s systems to falsely report execution venues, altering records and reports, and providing misleading responses to customer inquiries. By masking the broker-dealers who had executed customers’ orders, Merrill Lynch made itself appear to be a more active trading center and reduced access fees it typically paid to exchanges.
Merrill Lynch Benefit Access Card
After Merrill Lynch stopped masking in May 2013, it did not inform customers about its past practices, but instead took additional steps to hide its misconduct. Altogether, the SEC’s order found that Merrill Lynch falsely told customers that it executed more than 15 million “child” orders (portions of larger orders), comprising more than five billion shares, that actually were executed at third-party broker-dealers.
“By misleading customers about where their trades were executed, Merrill Lynch deprived them of the ability to make informed decisions regarding their orders and broker-dealer relationships,” said Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. “Merrill Lynch, which admitted that it took steps to ensure that customers did not learn about this misconduct, fell far short of the standards expected of broker-dealers in our markets.”
“Institutional traders often make careful choices about how and where their orders are sent out of a concern for information leakage,” said Joseph Sansone, Chief of the Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit. “Because of masking, customers who had instructed Merrill Lynch not to route their orders to third-party broker-dealers did not know that Merrill Lynch had disregarded their instructions.”
Merrill Lynch Benefits Information Center
The SEC’s order censures Merrill Lynch and requires it to pay a $42 million civil penalty.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Marc E. Johnson, Colby A. Steele, Ainsley Kerr, and Carolyn M. Welshhans of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse and Cyber Units, and Cheryl Crumpton, Supervisory Trial Attorney. The case was supervised by Robert A. Cohen, Chief of the Cyber Unit, and Mr. Sansone.
The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Office of the New York Attorney General.
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