But it failed to tell investors that weeks earlier it had granted Merrill permission to pay out up to $US5.8 billion, the suit said. Merrill ended up paying $US3.6 billion in bonuses, even though its $US27.6 billion loss last year put it on the edge of bankruptcy. ''The statements create the impression that Bank of America had not given its written consent to the payment of discretionary year-end bonuses at Merrill … when in fact by the time the proxy statement was prepared and distributed to shareholders, Bank of America had already given its written consent,'' the suit alleged.