Banks, Merrill Lynch | featured news

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and then-Treasury Department chief Henry Paulson pressured Bank of America Corp. to not discuss its increasingly troubled plan to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. -- a deal that later triggered a government bailout of BofA -- according to testimony by Kenneth Lewis, the bank's chief executive.

Two influential investor advisory groups sharply rebuked Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis over his handling of the buyout of ailing Merrill Lynch & Co, recommending he be thrown off the bank's board at its upcoming annual meeting.

New York's attorney general is moving to force former Merrill CEO John Thain to discuss details about bonuses paid to employees before the company was sold to Bank of America.

John A. Thain, the former chief executive of Merrill Lynch, resigned after Bank of America suffered unexpected losses stemming from its acquisition of the giant brokerage.