SEPTEMBER 22, 2009, 7:01 P.M. ET
US Rep Towns: Bank Of America To Provide More
By Michael R. Crittenden
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Bank of America Corp. (BAC) has agreed to provide some additional documents to congressional investigators and may be forced to hand over more in the future, a top Democrat said Tuesday.
Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Bank of America agreed at a Tuesday afternoon meeting to hand over documents requested by investigators last month regarding the firm's acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.
Not all of the documents requested by the Oversight committee will be turned over. Towns said for documents where Bank of America has asserted attorney-client privilege the bank will be required to provide investigators with a "privilege log" that the panel will review. If the panel determines the documents are still necessary, they could again be requested from the bank or subpoenaed.
"The meeting today with Bank of America was constructive," Towns said in a statement.
Bank of America's decision to hand over some documents is the latest step in the Oversight panel's ongoing investigation into the Merrill Lynch acquisition and the federal government's decision to provide billions to help ensure the acquisition went through in January. Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis testified before the committee earlier this year.
The current dispute over the documents arose after Bank of America responded to an Aug. 6 request from Towns by refusing to turn over some documents because of attorney-client privilege. Other documents provided included pages that were partially or fully redacted, and what Towns said in a letter to Lewis were "hundreds of pages of unrelated, extraneous information."
Towns noted in the Sept. 18 letter to Lewis that Congress has the right to refuse an assertion of attorney-client privilege.
Bank of America missed a Monday deadline to turn over the information to the Oversight panel, prompting the meeting Tuesday between Towns and Anne Finucane, the bank's chief strategy and marketing officer.
-By Michael R. Crittenden, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9273; michael.crittenden@dowjones.com
Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Bank of America agreed at a Tuesday afternoon meeting to hand over documents requested by investigators last month regarding the firm's acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.
Not all of the documents requested by the Oversight committee will be turned over. Towns said for documents where Bank of America has asserted attorney-client privilege the bank will be required to provide investigators with a "privilege log" that the panel will review. If the panel determines the documents are still necessary, they could again be requested from the bank or subpoenaed.
"The meeting today with Bank of America was constructive," Towns said in a statement.
Bank of America's decision to hand over some documents is the latest step in the Oversight panel's ongoing investigation into the Merrill Lynch acquisition and the federal government's decision to provide billions to help ensure the acquisition went through in January. Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis testified before the committee earlier this year.
The current dispute over the documents arose after Bank of America responded to an Aug. 6 request from Towns by refusing to turn over some documents because of attorney-client privilege. Other documents provided included pages that were partially or fully redacted, and what Towns said in a letter to Lewis were "hundreds of pages of unrelated, extraneous information."
Towns noted in the Sept. 18 letter to Lewis that Congress has the right to refuse an assertion of attorney-client privilege.
Bank of America missed a Monday deadline to turn over the information to the Oversight panel, prompting the meeting Tuesday between Towns and Anne Finucane, the bank's chief strategy and marketing officer.
-By Michael R. Crittenden, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9273; michael.crittenden@dowjones.com
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