Please refer yourselves to Paragraphs number 13, 14, and 15 of todays article,
thankfully reported to us, by Ms. Gordon and Mr. Bernard. AP Business Writers .
I may be a little more forgiving, if they would not have had 600 branches closed , and laid off a few more of the 30 million now unemployed. Making the bonuses, and subsequent slap in the wrist a Monumental GAFFE.
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Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, one of the nation's largest banks, acquired Merrill on Jan. 1, in a shotgun merger in September 2008 at the height of the financial crisis. It was later revealed that Merrill, with the knowledge of Bank of America executives, accelerated $3.6 billion in bonus payments before the deal was closed.
In seeking approval to buy Merrill Lynch, Bank of America told investors that Merrill would not pay year-end bonuses without Bank of America's consent. But in its complaint filed Aug. 3 in federal court in Manhattan, the SEC said Bank of America had already authorized Merrill to pay up to $5.8 billion in bonuses and didn't share that information with shareholders. That rendered a statement Bank of America mailed to 283,000 shareholders of both companies about the Merrill deal "materially false and misleading," the SEC said.
Merrill wound up paying $3.6 billion in bonuses in 2008, even though it lost $27.6 billion that year, a record for the firm. Those losses affected Bank of America's bottom line after its takeover of the troubled investment bank was completed.
