Bank of America walks into legal hornet's nest

In a risky move, Bank of America's (BAC) board will turn over documents disclosing the legal advice it received regarding the buy-out of Merrill Lynch. The information could be considered "untouchable" under attorney-client privilege rules, but B of A wants to appear very cooperative with government probes.

According toThe Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, "The new, more-conciliatory legal approach is in part intended to pave the way to a settlement of various investigations." NY Attorney General Cuomo will receive the documents, and under a similar arrangement with the bank, the SEC is likely to get them as well.