The US Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered Bank of America to pay $375m (€293m) to settle charges that it let hedge funds engage in improper mutual fund trading. The amount is equal to the record payout made by Amvescap last year for similar charges.

The settlement, which will be distributed to the mutual funds concerned and the shareholders that were harmed, was agreed with three subsidiaries of the bank and Eliot Spitzer, the New York state attorney general, who brought the action.