NEW YORK, June 16, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firms of Kirby McInerney & Squire, LLP and Futterman & Howard, Chtd. announced today that on June 14, 2004 an NASD arbitration panel affirmed its order of May 11, 2004 that sanctioned Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MER), for failure to comply with an earlier order of the panel that required Merrill to turn over evidentiary material. As a consequence, Merrill must pay a sanction, increasing $1,000 daily to the extent Merrill further fails to produce the documents in a timely manner.
In prior arbitration proceedings against Merrill, the same law firms established Merrill's liability to former customers for both punitive and compensatory damages associated with Merrill Lynch's systematic misuse of research analysts to court and cater to investment banking clients and prospects.
In making that prior award, the panel characterized Merrill's conduct as "egregious" in respect of, among other things, Merrill's failure to disclose that research reports were the product of conflicted interest, its breaches of NASD Regulations and NYSE Rules governing analyst conflicts of interest, and Merrill's breach of its own internal Policy and Procedures Manual.
New York-based Kirby McInerney & Squire, LLP and Futterman & Howard, Chtd. of Chicago specialize in complex litigation, including securities litigation. The firms' efforts on behalf of investors in securities litigation have resulted in recoveries totaling many hundreds of millions of dollars, and the quality of their achievements has been chronicled by many courts. The firms are pursuing arbitration claims on behalf of additional former Merrill customers.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca