BofA buys back $43M ARS from Mass.

An earlier headline read BofA buys back $43B ARS from Mass. - the correct amount is $34 million Bank of America Corp. has agreed to buy back $43 million in auction rate securities from two government agencies in Massachusetts. Under the terms of the agreement, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, both based in Boston, will be repaid $18 million and $25 million, respectively, said Brian McNiff, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Securities Division. Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America is still in negotiations with the office of William Galvin, secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as part of an effort to force the bank to buy back all auction rate securities from its retail investors. In May, UBS AG of Zurich, Switzerland, agreed to return $37 million to the Turnpike Authority and 17 municipalities invested in the securities. Also that month, UBS Securities Inc. of New York, a subsidiary of UBS AG, reimbursed the Turnpike Authority for $4.4 million in auction rate securities. The $330 billion auction rate securities market was frozen in mid-February after Wall Street stopped supporting the market. A spokeswoman from Bank of America declined to comment.