The New York State Supreme Court has ruled that the names of 200 of the highest bonus earners at Merrill Lynch are to be made public as part of an investigation into payment of bonuses to Merrill employees prior to its acquisition by Bank of America.

The investigation, led by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, focuses on $3.6 billion paid in bonuses to Merrill staff – payments which, in Mr Cuomo’s words, were “rushed out in early December.”

Bank of America, which completed its acquisition of Merrill on 1 January, has received $45 billion under the US treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Programme.

"Today’s decision in the Bank of America case is a victory for taxpayers…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,” said Mr Cuomo in a statement.

Merrill Lynch did not immediately respond to requests for comment from WealthBriefing.

Justice Bernard Fried’s ruling that details of Merrill's employee compensation are not a trade secret comes after prolonged legal wrangling on the matter. Last month John Thain, former Merrill chief executive, was compelled to re-testify on bonus payments after Mr Cuomo filed a Supreme Court motion. It was reported that Mr Thain had previously declined to give details on individual bonuses because BoA had instructed him not to.

Mr Cuomo has spearheaded a crusade for greater transparency on the bonuses paid to institutions in receipt of TARP funds. Insurance giant AIG, which is currently at the centre of a furore on bonus payments, is clearly next in Mr Cuomo’s sights, having been subpoenaed to hand over details on individual bonuses.

“AIG should take heed and immediately turn over the list of bonus recipients we have subpoenaed… More litigation is not the answer - it is time for AIG to come clean," Mr Cuomo’s statement concluded.