[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] on Monday accepted [opinion, PDF] a $150 million dollar settlement agreement between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] and Bank of America (BOA) [corporate website]. In his ruling, Judge Jed Rakoff said he was "reluctantly agreeing" to the settlement, which he called "improved, but far from ideal" and "half-baked justice at best." Rakoff further indicated:

If the Court were deciding that question solely on the merits – de novo, as the lawyers say - the Court would reject the settlement as inadequate and misguided. But as both parties never hesitate to remind the Court, the law requires the Court to give substantial deference to the SEC as the regulatory body having primary responsibility for policing the securities markets, especially with respect to matters of transparency. While such deference can never be absolute - since the Judgment ultimately entered is the Court's and is enforced by the Court's contempt power – the Court would fail in its duty if it did not give considerable weight to the SEC's position.