( CNN ) -- Bank of America CEO and Chairman Kenneth Lewis has been issued a subpoena by the New York State Attorney General 's Office , which is investigating whether the bank violated state law by withholding information from investors , a source familiar with the investigation told CNN . Kenneth Lewis is the CEO and chairman of Bank of America , the nation 's largest bank . Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been highly critical of Wall Street firms in general and Merrill Lynch in particular for the way they have conducted themselves in the midst of a financial crisis . Last week , he accused Merrill Lynch , which was acquired by Bank of America late last year , of secretly doling out big bonuses before reporting a huge quarterly loss . `` Merrill Lynch 's decision to secretly and prematurely award approximately $ 3.6 billion in bonuses , and Bank of America 's apparent complicity in it , raise serious and disturbing questions , '' Cuomo wrote in a letter to Rep. Barney Frank , D-Massachusetts , chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services . In his letter to Frank , Cuomo said Merrill gave bonuses of at least $ 1 million each to 696 employees , with a combined $ 121 million going to the top four recipients . The next four recipients were awarded a total of $ 62 million , and the next six received $ 66 million , he said . In all , the bonuses for 2008 totaled $ 3.6 billion . `` While more than 39,000 Merrill employees received bonuses from the pool , the vast majority of these funds were disproportionately distributed to a small number of individuals , '' Cuomo wrote . `` Indeed , Merrill chose to make millionaires out of a select group of 700 employees . '' The attorney general said Merrill `` awarded an even smaller group of top executives what can only be described as gigantic bonuses . '' Cuomo also claimed Merrill handed out the bonuses ahead of its federally funded acquisition by Bank of America , which was announced in mid-September and closed by year 's end . It `` appears that , instead of disclosing their bonus plans in a transparent way as requested by my office , Merrill Lynch secretly moved up the planned date to allocate bonuses and then richly rewarded their failed executives , '' Cuomo wrote . Bank of America has received $ 45 billion in federal bailout money , including $ 20 billion to support its takeover of Merrill . Bank of America reported a net loss of $ 1.79 billion for the fourth quarter . Merrill reported a net loss of $ 15.31 billion for the fourth quarter . Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri that Merrill was `` an independent company '' when the bonuses were awarded . `` Bank of America did urge the bonuses be reduced , including those at the high end , '' Silvestri wrote . `` Although we had a right of consultation , it was their ultimate decision to make . '' Silvestri said the top executives for Bank of America `` took no incentive compensation for 2008 , '' with an 80 percent reduction for the `` next level '' of executives . Top executives from Bank of America -- as well as Bank of New York Mellon , Citigroup , Goldman Sachs , JPMorgan Chase , Morgan Stanley , State Street and Wells Fargo -- appeared before the Financial Services Committee last week to explain how they spent the $ 165 billion they received from the government 's Troubled Asset Relief Program , or TARP . In the testimony , Lewis said he received no bonus for 2008 and was paid a salary of $ 1.5 million . Bank of America 's stock , which traded higher than $ 40 a share in the past year , closed at a fresh 52-week low of $ 3.93 a share Thursday . It 's the largest bank in terms of assets in the United States and is headquartered in Charlotte , North Carolina . CNNMoney.com contributed to this report .
New York State Attorney General 's Office issues the subpoena . It 's investigating whether Bank of America withheld information from investors . Bank purchased Merrill Lynch , which is accused of secretly doling out huge bonuses . Bank says Merrill was `` independent company '' when the bonuses were given .