Congress Investigating Whether Merrill Lynch Lied on Bonuses

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Earlier today, I noted that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is investigating the bonuses that were given in late 2008 to executives at the massively money-losing Merrill Lynch, seems to have caught the financial services company in a lie. Now Merrill Lynch (which was bought by Bank of America last year with taxpayer help) is in even more trouble. The allegedly misleading letter Merrill Lynch sent in November of last year was sent to Congress, and Congress definitely doesn’t like being deceived. Ed Towns (D-NY), the new chair of the House oversight committee, announced today that he is investigating whether Merrill Lynch execs lied to Congress. “[Cuomo’s] filings raise the disturbing possibility that Merrill Lynch executives may have obstructed this Committee’s investigation into executive compensation practices and the awarding of bonuses at the company,” Towns writes. “We will not hesitate to exercise every means at our disposal to protect the integrity of the Congressional investigation process and to bring real transparency to the use of TARP funds.”