Merrill Lynch has put together a formal proposal it hopes will convince the New York Attorney General not to bring forward criminal charges, according to the online Wall Street Journal.
Merrill Lynch, which has been accused of issuing biased and overly bullish stock research, is hurrying to reach a settlement to prevent a court hearing that would involve testimony from company executives.
The proposal, according to unnamed sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, would call for an ombudsman and a separate committee that would monitor Merrill's research, as well as the payment of a fine of tens of millions of dollars and the expression of some attrition.
Merrill Lynch planned to present the proposal before the weekend to New York attorney Mr Eliot Spitzer's office, the article said.
A court hearing on the matter had initially been scheduled for yesterday, but it was moved earlier this week to May 16th because of what Merrill said were "productive discussions" between the parties.
As part of the proposal, Merrill would also try to get other Wall Street firms to make similar commitments in a move to boost confidence in their research, the Journal'ssources said.
But investors who lost money on stocks that were recommended by Merrill analysts would be left to proceed with civil litigation.
