Judge Approves $150M SEC-BofA Settlement

``In an order Monday, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in Manhattan approved the pact but called the revised settlement "far from ideal." The judge rejected a $33 million settlement in September... In his order, the judge instructed the parties to include a provision in the revised settlement that the $150 million be distributed to shareholders harmed by the alleged nondisclosures--namely legacy Bank of America shareholders and not to Merrill Lynch shareholders who now own Bank of America stock or bank officers or directors who had access to the information. ''