BofA’s Merrill, Harvest Volatility Settle SEC Charges Over Risk

A division of Bank of America Corp. and Harvest Volatility Management LLC agreed to pay a combined $9.3 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that the firms exceeded clients’ investment limits, resulting in higher fees and losses, as they nudged clients into complex options-trading strategies.

Over a two-year period starting in March 2016, Harvest and BofA’s Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. unit sold investments that exceeded clients’ risk limits, with Merrill steering clients to Harvest and sharing part of the firm’s management and incentive fees along with trading commissions, the SEC said in a statement ...