Cuomo tells Bank of America to stop hiding behind attorney-client privileges

The New York Attorney General's Office says it's close to deciding what charges, if any, to bring against Bank of America over its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. However, it says to fairly do that, the bank has to stop hiding behind attorney-client privileges. WFAE's Lisa Miller has more: The Attorney General's Office has given Bank of America until Monday to disclose conversations bank executives had with attorneys leading up to the merger with Merrill Lynch. In a letter to the bank's outside attorneys, an investigator for the Attorney General's office said the bank is improperly using the attorney-client privilege as both a sword and shield in defending its failures to tell shareholders of Merrill's mounting losses before they approved the merger. The letter says the bank used the same defense concerning the bonuses Merrill Lynch gave to its employees. Bank of America says it hasn't used such a defense and that the bank has extensively cooperated with the Attorney General's investigation. In the letter, the investigator says the Attorney General is giving Bank of America one last chance to relay what was said between bank officials and its attorneys. If not, the letter says, the Attorney General could go ahead and press charges not taking into account that there may have been legitimate privileged conversations between the bank and its attorneys.