Cuomo Says Merrill Accelerated Bonus Payments

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo again took a stab at Bank of America (BoA) for not releasing data about bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch&Co. executives.

In court filings to the New York State Supreme Court, Cuomo rejected Bank of America’s attempts to avoid disclosing the names of and amounts paid to bonus recipients, according to news reports. Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis has refused to turn over the names (see “Merrill Executives Subpoenaed in Bonus Probe and “BoA Gets Subpoena to Release Bonus Information).

Cuomo is investigating whether the bonuses violated securities laws and whether Bank of America should have disclosed more about Merrill’s losses sooner, Reuters said.

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Bank of America counters that revealing the data would put them in a poor spot with competitors, making it hard to retain staff, according to news reports.

Cuomo also alleged that Merrill Lynch traders might have booked hefty losses later in 2008 only after learning of their 2008 bonuses, and that Merrill executives did not revisit their decision to pay out $3.62 billion of bonuses, Reuters reported. Cuomo said in the court filing that approving the bonuses in December was “unprecedented at Merrill and particularly imprudent considering the tatters in which the economy lay at the time the bonuses were voted,’ according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bank of America, which acquired Merrill Lynch January 1, has accepted $45 billion overall from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), according to Reuters.

Wolters Kluwer Adds Features to ComplianceHeadquarters.com

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services said it added several interactive and multimedia features to ComplianceHeadquarters.com.

The Web site provides news, information, and analysis surrounding bank regulatory compliance. The updated site offers interactive functionality that allows visitors the ability to comment on and rate the site’s content, according to a press release.

The company said compliance personnel can read information from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ numerous subject matter experts, engage in debate with one another, and discuss the real-world impact of regulatory and compliance issues affecting their businesses.

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The site also offers more information via videos and podcasts about topics related to deposit, mortgage, lending, indirect lending, individual retirement accounts (IRAs), health savings accounts (HSAs), financial crimes enforcement, and state laws. In addition, the site offers Compliance 101, a series of tutorials designed to give new and inexperienced compliance professionals a quick, basic overview of major banking regulations.

“The bank regulatory landscape has changed dramatically in recent years and will likely continue to do so as the new Administration has promised further reform,” said Lisa Fraga, vice president and general manager of Banking Content at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, in the release. “With so much change occurring so quickly, ComplianceHeadquarters.com provides institutions with fast and easy access to the critical regulatory compliance information they need in one convenient spot.”

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