SEC fines Wells Fargo $35M, Merrill Lynch $25M over improper cash sweeps

Wells Fargo and Merrill Lynch will pay $35 million and $25 million, respectively, to settle allegations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that their handling of investment accounts’ cash sweep programs violated federal law.

Wells Fargo Clearing Services, Wells Fargo Advisors, and Merrill Lynch offered only one type of bank deposit sweep programs that was not in the best interest of some clients. The cash sweep programs set interest rates that failed to rise along with rising interest rates, a gap that at times grew to four percent, the SEC said in a press release Friday.

The firms failed to adopt reasonably designed policies and procedures that considered the best interests of clients during periods of rising interest rates, and regarding the duties of financial advisers to manage client cash in advisory accounts, the SEC said.