Merrill Lynch Deferred Pay Plan Falls Outside ERISA, Judges Say

Merrill Lynch’s deferred incentive compensation program for financial advisers isn’t governed by ERISA, the Fourth Circuit said Friday in a win for the Bank of America Corp. investment management unit.

Merrill Lynch’s WealthChoice Award program is a bonus plan exempt from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled affirming a 2025 trial court decision tossing a proposed class action based on that premise.

The outcome is a blow to a proposed class of financial advisers who say they lost out on significant compensation because the program’s forfeiture rules don’t comply with ...