Cuomo Wins Ruling To Name Merrill Bonus Recipients

Andrew Cuomo, the New York attorney general, won a legal battle on Wednesday to compel Bank of America to provide his office with the names of the Merrill employees with the 200 largest bonuses. (Chip East / Reuters)

From The International Herald Tribune:

Andrew M. Cuomo is starting to unearth some of the most closely guarded secrets on Wall Street: the identities of Merrill Lynch employees who collected large bonuses even as the brokerage firm lost billions.

Mr. Cuomo, the New York attorney general, won a legal battle on Wednesday to compel Bank of America, which bought Merrill in December, to provide his office with the names of the Merrill employees with the 200 largest bonuses. Mr. Cuomo said he would make the names public as early as Thursday.

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Report: Wall Street Spent $5 Billion For Political Influence

From CBS News:

A group called Wall Street Watch is out with a report that finds that “Wall Street investment firms, commercial banks, hedge funds, real estate companies and insurance conglomerates made $1.7 billion in political contributions and spent another $3.4 billion on lobbyists” between 1998 and 2008.

The report, "Sold Out: How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America," concludes that the contributions were “aimed at undercutting federal regulation” and ultimately “led directly to the current financial collapse.”

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My Comment: This is a must read article. Money and influence walking hand in hand.