SEATTLE, Aug. 26, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Keller Rohrback L.L.P., Co-Lead Counsel for the Class, announce that on August 21, 2009, the Honorable Jed S. Rakoff granted final approval of the ERISA settlement in In re Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Securities, Derivative and ERISA Litigation. This class action alleged breaches of fiduciary duty in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended ("ERISA"), in connection with the acquisition and holding of Merrill Lynch stock in the Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. 401(k) Savings and Investment Plan, the Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Retirement Accumulation Plan, and the Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan (collectively, the "Plans").
The settlement provides for a payment of $75 million to resolve the Class's claims. The Class consists of: (a) all current and former participants and beneficiaries of any of the Plans whose individual Plan account(s) included investments in Merrill Lynch stock at any time between September 30, 2006 and December 31, 2008, inclusive and (b) as to each Person within the scope of subsection (a) of this Paragraph, his, her or its beneficiaries, alternate payees (including spouses of deceased Persons who were participants of one or more of the Plans), Representatives and Successors-In-Interest, provided, however, that the Class shall not include any Defendant or any of their Immediate Family, beneficiaries, alternate payees (including spouses of deceased Persons who were Plan participants), Representatives or Successors-In-Interest, except for spouses and immediate family members who themselves are or were participants in any of the Plans, who shall be considered members of the Class with respect to their own Plan accounts.
"As Co-Lead Counsel for the Class of participants who held Merrill Lynch stock in the plans, we're pleased that the court has approved the settlement of this ERISA case," said Marc Machiz, a partner at Cohen Milstein who lead the litigation on behalf of his firm, including settlement negotiations. "Despite an uncertain legal climate, the settlement represents one of the largest settlements in an ERISA case of this type and is a fair compromise of the claims of the Plans' participants."
"This case was brought to vindicate the principal that those in charge of pension plans that invest in employer stock must heed warning signs that the stock has become an inappropriate investment, and to provide a recovery to thousands of Merrill Lynch employees who saw their retirement savings greatly diminished by the decline of Merrill Lynch's share price prior to its sale to Bank of America," said Machiz.
