Dow Jones Newswires | The inspector general of the Securities and
Exchange Commission, David Kotz, has expanded his investigation of the
agency’s civil-case settlement with Bank of America Corp. over the
company’s acquisition of brokerage Merrill Lynch & Co., CNBC reports
Tuesday.

In his semiannual report to Congress, Kotz also will recommend
disciplinary action against two attorneys on the staff of the SEC’s
enforcement division for their role in the release of unauthorized
information to a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent. CNBC says the
agent was working on an investigation in conjunction with an imprisoned
former short seller the cable network identified as Anthony Elgindy.

The SEC has refused to disclose the names of the two attorneys, CNBC reports.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in February approved a revised version of the $150 million settlement over the bank’s disclosures before the 2009 acquisition. Rakoff, who called the revision “far from ideal,” had rejected a $33 million settlement between the SEC and Bank of America last September. The expanded investigation pertains to the revised version of the settlement, according to CNBC.

The agreement resolves two civil lawsuits by the SEC over the Charlotte, N.C., bank’s disclosures before the $50 billion purchase of Merrill Lynch closed on Jan. 1, 2009.