Ousted Thain Subpoenaed on Early Merrill Bonuses

New York’s attorney general issued a subpoena today to force John Thain to testify about his acceleration of bonus payments for Merrill Lynch employees last month, the Financial Times reports. A subpoena was also issued to a Bank of America executive thought to have consulted with Thain—then Merrill’s CEO—on the bonus payments as BoA closed the deal to acquire Merrill.

“These subpoenas are part of an ongoing inquiry into billions of dollars in bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch late last year just days before Merrill was taken over by Bank of America,” Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said. “The fact that Merrill Lynch appears to have moved up the timetable to pay bonuses before its merger with Bank of America is troubling to say the least and warrants further investigation.” (More John Thain stories.)