With summary judgment motions pending before Judge Castel, and a trial date of October 22 fast approaching, Bank of America announced Friday that it has agreed to pay $2.43 billion to settle a class action arising from Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch (a case we have been following closely).  Plaintiffs’ counsel Bernstein Litowitz also put out an announcement.   The docket reflects that the parties informed Judge Castel of the settlement during a status conference on Friday, and that a deadline of November 16, 2012 has been set for filing the motion for preliminary approval of the settlement.  For a full analysis of the settlement and a comparison to past securities class action settlements see Alison Frankel at Reuters.