Steven Davidoff at the New York Times reckons the focus on bonuses paid to Merrill staff is not the issue.

Steve is less willing than some to blame the lawyers in the BoA merger.

The elephant in the room, he argues, is the possible non-disclosure of the extent of Merrill Lynch's losses - $15.3 billion at last count.

If these were not disclosed then the bonus disclosure would become altogether more substantial. Steve thinks the SEC is avoiding dealing with that possibility because of the question of whether the Bush administration directed Bank of America to keep Merrill's losses quiet.