The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday said a pair of Wells Fargo Advisory firms and Merrill Lynch have agreed to pay a combined $60 million in civil penalties to settle charges over compliance failures.

Advisory clients’ uninvested dollars were automatically swept into bank accounts that paid paltry interest, but were profitable for the companies, the SEC said.

Investment adviser units of Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill shortchanged customers by funneling uninvested cash into sweep accounts that benefited the banks but not their clients,

Regulators took the wirehouses to task for not having policies directing advisors to consider clients' best interests.