Merrill Edge Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Interest Rates

Posted on January 23rd, 2024 at 3:20 PM
Merrill Edge Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Interest Rates

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law 

Merrill Edge, the online brokerage and advisory arm of Merrill Lynch, is facing a class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Merrill Edge breached its contract by failing to pay a "reasonable rate of interest" on assets in retirement accounts, comparing its rates unfavorably to other brokerages like Fidelity Investments, R.W. Baird, Robinhood, and Vanguard Investments. The plaintiff seeks class-action status for clients with Merrill Edge retirement accounts since March 2022.

According to InvestmentNews, this is not the first time Merrill Lynch has faced legal action related to yields and interest rates on cash, with a similar complaint revived in 2021. In early 2022, during a period of rising interest rates, this latest class action lawsuit accuses Merrill Edge of maintaining unreasonably low rates for its retirement account savings program, ranging from 0.01 percent to 1.06 percent at the end of the year. “The plaintiff alleges that rates in the program remained unchanged throughout the year, despite the broader trend of increasing interest rates associated with federal funds rate hikes," the lawsuit alleges.

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

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