Report: BofA to Settle Over Bid-Rigging

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Bank of America Corp. agreed to settle a federal lawsuit accusing it of rigging bids for municipal bonds, according to a published report.

Bloomberg News reported the agreement Wednesday, citing papers filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. The agreement would settle litigation filed in 2008 against Band of America and other banks, accusing them of manipulating bids for municipal derivatives.

"We don't have a comment," a Bank of America press officer said in an emailed response to The Bond Buyer.
Plaintiffs include the city of Baltimore; Bucks County, Pa.; Hinds County, Miss.; and Berkeley County, S.C.

Other defendants in the litigation filed June 18, 2008, include CDR Financial Products Inc. and Financial Guaranty Insurance Co.

Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the convictions of Dominick Carollo, Steven Goldberg, and Peter Grimm, former bankers at GE Funding Capital Market Services Inc. A federal jury in New York had convicted them of fraud and conspiracy in May 2012. The court has yet to issue a written opinion.

Depending upon that written opinion, the decision could affect others convicted of rigging bids for guaranteed investment and other contracts, some of whom await sentencing.

The order to overturn did not remand the case to a lower court for a new trial.

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