BofA to Hand Congress More Documents
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (
) --
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
plans to hand a congressional committee more documents related to its acquisition of brokerage
Merrill Lynch
, the committee chairman said.
Rep. Edolphus Towns, a Democrat from New York, said Tuesday BofA will provide the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform with documents it originally requested in August, expect for those which the bank is asserting attorney-client privilege.
Towns, in a statement, called the meeting with Bank of America "constructive."
Bank of America missed a Monday deadline to provide the information sought by a congressional probe into the Merrill deal, but agreed to meet with Towns on Tuesday. The committee has asked the bank to
disclose all relevant information
about its discovery of Merrill's mounting losses, its receipt of government funds to plug those balance-sheet holes and the reasons why BofA didn't inform shareholders of such developments immediately.
The bank has said consistently it has done nothing wrong and shouldn't have to disclose confidential advice given by its lawyers. Several government agencies have launched inquiries into the Merrill acquisition, including the
Securities and Exchange Commission
, which is readying to take the bank to trial over billions of bonuses paid at Merrill. BofA had agreed to pay $33 million to settle the charges without admitting or denying wrongdoing, but a judge threw out the settlement.
-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York
.
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