The New York Times’ “DealBook” blog reports that a judge has ruled the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can file a new complaint against Bank of America. The SEC says Bank of America failed to disclose its huge losses at Merrill Lynch, as required, before a December 2008 shareholder vote. The SEC accuses BofA of violation its own registration statement, which said the bank would provide new information about any “fundamental changes” to previously revealed information. The enormous losses at Merrill Lynch, one would think, would qualify.

The SEC is essentially saying that at the time it acquired Merrill Lynch, during the economic crisis of December 2008, Bank of America violated its duty to its investors. According to the DealBook story, “A spokesman for Bank of America told DealBook in a statement that the firm and its executives provided sufficient disclosure regarding the Merrill Lynch transaction.” Read the entire DealBook story here.