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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: levy who wrote (27116)	5/21/2002 10:43:24 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28311

Some details on ML deal...Source: Merrill Settles With New York Attorney General By MICHAEL GORMLEY .c The Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (May 21) - Merrill Lynch & Co. and New York's attorney general have agreed to settle charges that the firm's analysts misled investors with their stock ratings so the company could win lucrative investment banking fees, a source told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Merrill Lynch will pay a $100 million fine, make a statement of contrition, and agree to significant structural reforms to separate analysts from the firm's investment bankers who do business with those companies as clients, a source said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was scheduled to announce details of the settlement later Tuesday morning. Juanita Scarlett, a Spitzer spokeswoman, declined to comment on the settlement. A Merrill Lynch spokesman didn't immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the settlement on its Web site Tuesday. Spitzer last month revealed details of a 10-month investigation into the nation's largest brokerage that uncovered e-mails from analysts disparaging stocks that they publicly praised. He threatened to file criminal charges unless Merrill Lynch agreed to make reforms among its ranks of analysts, pay a fine and admit wrongdoing. Spitzer said analysts rated stocks of some companies as good buys so the Merrill Lynch could win investment banking business for mergers and initial public stock offerings from those same companies. Settlement negotiations between Merrill Lynch and Spitzer have been under way since he revealed the findings of his investigation. The probe also includes key Merrill Lynch rivals, and the settlement is expected to serve as a model for the industry. Spitzer has subpoenaed information from at least a half dozen other major Wall Street brokerages. Some of the evidence collected so far includes employment contracts that detail how analysts were to be compensated for helping to land investment banking clients. AP-NY-05-21-02 0945EDT Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.