Andrew Cuomo, who was the Attorney General of New York in February of 2010, filed suit then against Bank of America and two of the bank’s employees, Ken Lewis and Joe Price. In his complaint, Mr. Cuomo said that the bank first chose not to disclose the losses involving Merrill Lynch, which topped $16 billion, to its shareholders who were voting to approve the deal. Then, the bank told federal officials that those same losses had persuaded bank executives to consider backing out of the deal, unless the government provided a second bailout. “Throughout this episode, the conduct of Bank of America, through its top management, was motivated by self-interest, greed, hubris and a palpable sense that the normal rules of fair play did not apply to them,” Mr. Cuomo said. “Bank of America’s management thought of itself as too big to play by the rules and, just as disturbingly, too big to tell the truth.”[1]
The full essay is at "Unaccountability at Bank of America."
1. Louise Story, "Cuomo Sues Bank of America, Even as It Settles With S.E.C.," The New York Times, February 4, 2010.
