Congress demands Merrill Lynch details

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A congressional committee has given Bank of America until Monday to divulge details of the merger with Merrill Lynch the bank considered protected information.

The bank has used the argument that details of the January merger are protected as they involve client and attorney discussions.

After the bank asked for an extension, however, Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., stuck to a noon deadline for the bank to divulge when it became aware of huge losses at Merrill Lynch and when the bank knew the deal would be propped up by Troubled Asset Relief Program funding, The New York Times reported.

The bank has been accused of misleading shareholders by not revealing Merrill Lynch losses and concealing a pre-arranged deal to pay Merrill Lynch employees billions of dollars in bonus checks after the merger.

In a letter, Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis pledged, "the strongest intent to work with the committee."

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the Securities and Exchange Commission are also investigating the merger. In a federal court in New York, Judge Jed Rakoff ordered Bank of America to trial after rejecting a $33 million SEC settlement in the case.