FILE PHOTO: A worker washes windows high atop the Merrill Lynch building in downtown San Diego, California September 1, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Blake

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch has agreed to settle U.S. charges over allegations that it did not properly prevent unregistered sales of a software company’s shares on behalf of a China-based issuer, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

Merrill Lynch, part of Bank of America BAC.N, did not admit or deny the SEC's findings as part of the settlement but agreed to pay a $1.25 million penalty and more than $154,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest earned on the improper sales, the regulator agency said in a statement.