Ceo, Merrill Lynch | featured news

The embattled chief executive, under pressure over the disclosure of losses and bonuses at Merrill Lynch, told the board on Wednesday that he planned to retire, people briefed on the situation said.

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says he was justified last year in suggesting that Bank of America Corp.'s chief executive could lose his job if the bank backed out on plans to buy troubled Merrill Lynch.

Kenneth D. Lewis, the Bank of America chief, told a House panel that he was pressured by the government late last year to purchase Merrill Lynch.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and then-Treasury Department chief Henry Paulson pressured Bank of America Corp. to not discuss its increasingly troubled plan to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. -- a deal that later triggered a government bailout of BofA -- according to testimony by Kenneth Lewis, the bank's chief executive.

Two influential investor advisory groups sharply rebuked Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis over his handling of the buyout of ailing Merrill Lynch & Co, recommending he be thrown off the bank's board at its upcoming annual meeting.

New York's attorney general is moving to force former Merrill CEO John Thain to discuss details about bonuses paid to employees before the company was sold to Bank of America.

Former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain said Monday he plans to reimburse Bank of America for a $1.2 million renovation of his office a year ago.

John A. Thain, the former chief executive of Merrill Lynch, resigned after Bank of America suffered unexpected losses stemming from its acquisition of the giant brokerage.