Finra slapped Bank of America Merrill Lynch with an $8 million fine and ordered the wirehouse to pay a total of $89 million in restitution for failing to waive mutual fund sales charges for certain charities and retirement accounts.
Most of the mutual funds on Merrill Lynch’s retail platform waive certain fees for eligible retirement plans and charities. But the firm failed to make sure its advisers were properly applying those waivers to as many as 41,000 account, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.
The $89 million in restitution includes nearly $65 million that the firm has already repaid to harmed investors.