Bank of America wants terms others got in bond deal: report

Bank of America Corp wants to settle state and federal probes into the marketing of auction-rate securities on similar terms similar to those reached with other major banks, Bloomberg said.
The second-largest U.S. bank by assets has been negotiating for almost a month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and regulators in New York and Massachusetts for a deal that would provide liquidity relief to customers, Bloomberg said citing a statement from the company.
"We understood that we had reached such an agreement in principle nearly two weeks ago," spokeswoman Shirley Norton said in the statement.
Several big U.S. banks including Citigroup (C.N) and Goldman Sachs have settled claims with regulators over auction-rate securities which were sold as stable investments to institutions and retail investors before the market locked up in February.
The banks agreed to buy back a total of at least $44 bln of the securities from individuals, nonprofits and small businesses and to help their institutional clients find markets for the debt.
They also agreed to pay fines totaling more than $520 mln to state and federal regulators, as part of the settlement.
No one was available at Bank of America for immediate comment.