Merrill Lynch was censured by the SEC.

Without admitting or denying any of the federal agency’s allegations, the New York-based brokerage firm accepted the censure, which involved the activities of Victor G. Matl, an account executive in the firm’s San Francisco office between 1977 and March, 1983. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged that Matl made misrepresentations to customers about the risks of options trading and trading on margin, recommended transactions that were unsuitable for customers given their financial resources, made transactions beyond the authority granted by some of his clients and failed to sell some of his customer’s holdings as requested. The commission also ordered that Matl be barred from any future association with any broker, investment adviser or municipal securities dealer.