NY Atty General Can Release Names Of Merrill Bonus Recipients: Judge

[babylonsister]

Judge Says Cuomo May Name Merrill Bonus Recipients (Update4)

By Karen Freifeld


March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. employees who received $3.6 billion in bonuses in December may be publicly identified as part of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s probe of the company, a New York judge ruled.

New York Attorney State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Fried in Manhattan today rejected an argument by Charlotte, North Carolina- based Bank of America Corp. that compensation information was a trade secret. He also said employees can have no reasonable expectation of privacy in the information when they are free to share it.

“The Martin Act vests in the Attorney General the discretion to decide whether to keep the information that he gathers in the course of his investigation secret or public,” Fried wrote in a 16- page decision, referring to a New York securities law. Bank of America, he said, has no “privacy interest that undermines that statutory discretion.”

Cuomo has sought the information for his probe of the bonuses, which were granted in late December, before the company was acquired by Bank of America on Jan. 1. Merrill accumulated a $15.8 billion loss in the fourth quarter.

“We will of course comply with the order of the court and turn over the information requested,” said Scott Silvestri, a spokesman for Bank of America. “We will continue to cooperate with the AG’s investigation.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBsQrfgmHj2c&refer=home

[dorkulon]

1. Not sure how I feel about this.

There's a lot of anger out there, and naming names on this could lead to violence against these people and their families.

[babylonsister]

3. I think the CEO forced Cuomo's hand by not providing info

he requested, then subpoenaed.

And there was a lot (more?) anger at Madoff, but he weathered it til he went to jail.

[Why Syzygy]

2. They just couldn't carry it off

quite the same way as their role model, Gw. tut tut