The Securities and Exchange Commission is broadening its inquiry into the merger of Bank of America Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. Specifically, the SEC will go beyond the issues of Merrill’s bonus pool, to look into Merrill’s accelerating pre-merger losses and Bank of America’s threat to use an escape clause to cancel the merger.
This latest development came after Bank of America’s board of directors decided to waive attorney-client privilege of internal discussions during the merger, after facing demands to do so from both the SEC and the office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
