Thain requested $40 million bonus

NEW YORK, March 12 (UPI) -- Former Merrill Lynch & Co. Chief Executive Officer John Thain requested a $40 million bonus for his role in selling the struggling U.S. firm, court papers show.

In a court deposition, Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis said Thain was told "very strongly" that asking for a $40 million bonus would damage his position with the bank's board of directors, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported Thursday.

"If you ever wanted a chance to be in the running for my job then that would eliminate it," Lewis' statement said.

Documents released by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office reveal an accusation by Cuomo that a Merrill Lynch attorney misled Congress, telling them Nov. 24 that the investment bank had yet to make decisions on bonus pay.

In testimony, however, the chairman of Merrill Lynch's compensation committee, John Finnegan, said Thain had decided Nov. 11 to push bonuses through ahead of schedule.

Lewis said Bank of America had also urged Merrill Lynch to reduce bonus pay overall, which was originally set at $5.8 billion.

Cuomo is investigating why the $3.6 billion in bonuses were doled out given the billions of dollars of taxpayer funds used to support the banks.