Merrill Settles Research SuitThe brokerage will pay $164 million. Investors claimed they were duped by star analyst Henry Blodget and others during the tech bubble LATimes.com, February 21, 2006 EXCERPT
Merrill Lynch & Co. said Friday that it would pay $164 million to settle 23 class-action lawsuits alleging that investors suffered massive loses by following its dishonest stock recommendations, including those from its former start technology analyst, Henry Blodget. The settlement represents a fraction of the money investors lost when the Internet bubble burst in 2000 and the stocks collapsed, and it will barely dent Merrill's bottom line. The Wall Street powerhouse reported $5.2 billion in profit last year. But prospects that investors would get any restitution had been in jeopardy since a federal judge in New York dismissed 11 of the cases in 2003. "Perhaps this is not as much money as I would have liked to have gotten," said Herbert Milstein, the lead investor attorney on 20 cases. "But under the circumstances, it's a very good settlement." For more information, please contact us at lawinfo@cmht.com. |
