Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch unit paid $415 million last year to resolve allegations that it misused customers' cash. On Friday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finally got around to settling a case against the former bank executive who it said was ultimately responsible.
His penalty was considerably lower: nothing.
William Tirrell, the former head of regulatory reporting at Merrill Lynch, negligently caused the firm to violate securities rules, the SEC said in an order Friday. The regulator ordered Tirrell to "cease and desist" from any future transgressions.