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 When it comes to the merger of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) and Merrill Lynch & Co., there's always more room for finger-pointing. In recent weeks it's been BofA chieftain Ken Lewis saying that Hank Paulson and Ben Bernake
suggested that he be silent on the bonuses and the $16 billion in losses at Merrill
reported just after the tie-up.But the plot thickened Monday -- and only days before BofA's annual shareholder meeting where Lewis may be fighting for his job -- as Merrill's former CEO John Thain is back looking to avenge the tarnishing of his reputation when the bonus fiasco and fourth-quarter losses resulted his being forced out in January. The one-time "Mr. Fixit" for Wall Street told The Wall Street Journal that BofA "lied" about its part in the bonuses and losses at Merrill. "Getting fired is one thing. But nobody has the right to say things that they know aren't true," Thain told the paper. With Lewis getting to face a slew of angry shareholders on April 29, Thain inextricably linked BofA's CEO to the event: "Mr. Thain says that he and Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis agreed in writing that the bonuses could be paid before Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill closed, which led to the early payments. 'The suggestion Bank of America was not heavily involved in this process, and that I alone made these decisions, is simply not true,' he says." The timing of Thain's comments comes at an awful point for Lewis, who is facing a very real shareholder revolt triggered by the Merrill deal. BofA's management is likely hoping that Merrill's sizable contribution to the bank's first-quarter earnings would defray some of the shareholder anger. However, Thain's charge that management was aware of the entire situation, but withheld the information and later made Thain the fall guy, could easily come back to haunt Lewis. - George White See WSJ story See Dealscape post on BofA earnings See Dealscape post on shareholder reaction to earnings
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