Shortly before markets opened this morning, we got news that Bank of America will pay $2.4 billion to shareholders as part of a settlement announced this morning.

It’s compensation for maybe not sharing the whole story when B of A bought the failing brokerage Merrill Lynch in 2008. The bank admits no wrong-doing. But the evidence suggested managers knew Merrill was going to be a drag.

“When it bought Merrill Lynch, it didn’t reveal to shareholders that Merrill Lynch might have around $70 billion of losses on its books,” says New York bureau chief Heidi Moore. “And obviously those shareholders got really mad.”

Bank of America shares are down today on news of the settlement.