Merrill to Reimburse Film Director $300,000

Merrill Lynch & Co. said Thursday that it is “pleased” with an arbitrator’s decision that the securities firm won’t have to reimburse movie director Michael Bay for trading losses.

A three-person arbitration panel last week told Merrill to pay the director of “Pearl Harbor” $300,000, far less than the $8 million Bay had sought.

Bay filed an arbitration claim against Merrill last year and sued a former Merrill stockbroker, Win H. Troung, for allegedly ignoring his instructions not to trade on margin and conducting more than 8,000 trades over 15 months with the director’s $2.8-million portfolio of stocks, bonds and cash.

The arbitration panel rejected “the vast majority” of Bay’s claims, including his allegations of fraud and excessive trading, Merrill said. The $300,000 was reimbursement for commissions and margin interest during a three-month period.

“The panel found that Mr. Bay was a sophisticated investor who determined the course of his investments,” Merrill said.

Carla Levenson, a spokeswoman for Bay’s attorneys at law firm O’Neill, Lysaght & Sun, said Bay had been “vindicated” by the panel’s ruling.

Walt Disney Co.’s “Pearl Harbor,” released in 2001, cost about $205 million to make and market, making it one of the most expensive movies.

Bay, 37, directed the 1998 action-adventure film “Armageddon,” starring Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. He also directed the 1996 film “The Rock” starring Nicolas Cage.

New York-based Merrill is the world’s largest securities firm by capital. Merrill is a passive, minority investor in Bloomberg, the parent of Bloomberg News.