Bank of America slapped with civil fraud charges by SEC and state regulators

Regulators accused Bank of America and its former top executives -- chief executive officer Ken Lewis and chief financial officer Joseph Price -- of lying to investors in fall 2008 about mounting losses at Merrill Lynch, the troubled investment bank it was acquiring, and billions of dollars in bonuses paid to employees. Regulators also charged that the bank misled federal officials by falsely claiming it would back out of a deal to buy Merrill Lynch without billions of dollars more in bailout funds.

"Bank of America, through its top management, engaged in a concerted effort to deceive shareholders and American taxpayers at large," New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. "They committed an enormous fraud, and American taxpayers ended up paying billions for Bank of America's misdeeds."

Additional civil charges are expected.