by Laura Conaway

Bank of America is closing another door left open in its takeover of Merrill Lynch. From AP:

Bank of America has agreed to pay a $33 million penalty to settle government charges that it misled investors about Merrill Lynch's plans to pay bonuses to its employees.

In seeking approval to buy Merrill, Bank of America told its shareholders that Merrill agreed not to pay year-end bonuses without Bank of America's consent. But the Securities and Exchange Commission says Bank of America had authorized New York-based Merrill to pay $5.8 billion in bonuses.

Bank of America paid $50 billion for Merrill Lynch. The Merrill bonuses amount to nearly 12 percent of that amount. Under the settlement agreement, Bank of America neither admits nor denies the allegations.