Judge denied Merrill Lynch bonus to keep data confidential bid.

CNN Money:

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A New York state judge on Wednesday rejected a bid by Bank of America Corp. (BAC) to keep details confidential about individuals who received bonuses at Merrill Lynch & Co. on the eve of its merger with the Charlotte, N.C., bank.

In an order Wednesday, New York State Supreme Court Justice Bernard J. Fried in Manhattan denied a motion by Bank of America for a protective order modifying a subpoena by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to include a confidentiality provision, and denied a motion to separately intervene and put a similar confidentiality restriction on testimony by John A. Thain, Merrill Lynch's former chief executive.

The bank had asked the judge to prevent Cuomo from publicly releasing the names of individuals who received bonuses and how much they made.

In his ruling, the judge found Bank of America didn't make efforts to keep compensation data confidential, other than to encourage employees not to discuss pay in the workplace. There's also no evidence the bank took measures to prevent employees from sharing compensation information with third parties, the judge said.

"The record indicates that Bank of America has not taken the kind of measures to protect the secrecy of its employee compensation information that one would expect it to have taken if this information were a trade secret," the judge said.

The judge also found New York's Martin Act gives the attorney general the discretion to decide whether to keep information he gathers in the course of an investigation secret or make it public

Update: Here is Cuomo's statement from his website.Cuomo is going after AIG.

STATEMENT FROM ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO ON COURT DECISION TO FORCE BANK OF AMERICA AND MERRILL LYNCH TO TURN OVER LIST OF BONUS RECIPIENTS

"Today’s decision in the Bank of America case is a victory for taxpayers. Let the sun shine in. Justice Fried’s decision will now lift the shroud of secrecy surrounding the $3.6 billion in premature bonuses Merrill Lynch rushed out in early December. Taxpayers demand and deserve transparency and now they will finally get it. Bank of America chose litigation over transparency and we are gratified that this tactic has failed.

AIG should take heed and immediately turn over the list of bonus recipients we have subpoenaed. The deadline for responding to our subpoena is tomorrow. More litigation is not the answer - it is time for AIG to come clean."