Thain: "Bank of America Knew"

The "he said, she said" starts

Lohn Thain, the recently departed head of Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) , said last week in a farewell memo to Merrill employees that Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) knew about all of Merrill's losses that were reported recently, and was also aware of and approved, controversial year-ended bonuses paid to Merrill staff. "The size of the (bonus) pool, its composition (cash and stock mix), and the timing of the payments for both the cash and stock were all determined together with Bank of America and approved by our Management Development and Compensation Committee and our board," Thain wrote in the memo.

Now that Thain is gone, Ken Lewis ought to be next..