Judge Denies Bid To Keep Merrill Bonus Data Confidential

A New York state judge on Wednesday rejected a bid by Bank of America Corp. (BAC) to keep details confidential about individuals who received bonuses at Merrill Lynch & Co. on the eve of its merger with the Charlotte, N.C., bank last year.

In an order Wednesday, New York State Supreme Court Justice Bernard J. Fried in Manhattan denied a motion by Bank of America to intervene in the matter.

The bank had asked the judge to prevent New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo from publicly releasing the names of individuals who received bonuses and how much they made.

Cuomo's office is probing disclosures related to the timing and nature of more than $3.6 billion in bonus payments made shortly before Bank of America's merger with Merrill Lynch closed last year.

Bank of America has claimed publicly releasing details about who received bonuses and how much the awards were would cause it harm and put it at a competitive disadvantage. The bank has claimed the information was proprietary data and some employees might leave because of privacy or security concerns if the list were made public.

The bank also wanted the confidentiality order, in part, to apply to testimony given by John A. Thain, Merrill Lynch's former chief executive. A temporary confidentiality order on Thain's testimony had been in place until the judge made his ruling.

Thain was forced out in January in the wake of his handling of the investment bank's fourth-quarter loss. In a recent regulatory filing, Merrill Lynch reported a fourth-quarter loss of $15.84 billion, $500 million more than prior estimates.

-By Chad Bray, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-227-2017; [e-mail]