Bank of America attempts to block probe

Bank of America filed papers in a New York state court to block the state’s probe into compensation that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo calls excessive.

The bank contends that the data on compensation is confidential.

The attorney general’s office, in turn, has issued subpoenas to three former Merrill Lynch personnel who received bonus checks in excess of $10 million each, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Before collapsing into the arms of Bank of America, Merrill Lynch paid employees billions of dollars in bonus pay. Reportedly, approval for bonuses was rushed to make sure they went through before Bank of America acquired the company.

At issue is the point that the firms handed out huge bonus checks after the firms had accepted billions of dollars in federal bailout funds.

Cuomo’s office has issued subpoenas to former Merrill Lynch investment banker Andrea Orcel, former head of strategy Peter Kraus and former global sales and trading chief Thomas Montag, the Journal said.