Jan. 28--Bank of America Corp. announced today the three Merrill Lynch directors that will be joining its board.

Former IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti, former Miller Brewing Company executive Virgis Colbert, and former ambassador to China Joseph Prueher will join Bank of America's board, bringing the membership to 19.

Rossotti, 67, is a senior adviser at The Carlyle Group private-equity firm. Colbert, 69, is the retired executive vice president of Miller Brewing Company. Prueher, 66, is a consulting professor at Stanford University's Institute of International Studies. He served as ambassador to China from 1999 to 2001.

Separately, the Financial Times reported this afternoon that Bank of America plans to defer bonuses for employees in its capital markets and investment banking units.

The new policy will affect bonus payments of $50,000 or more and is expected to be announced on Thursday, the newspaper said, citing several unnamed executives. Affected employees will now have to wait until next year to get one-third of their 2008 bonuses, with the remaining two-thirds paid out in 2011 and 2012.

A bank spokesman said the bank traditionally doesn't comment on compensation plans, especially before sharing details with employees.

Any bonus cuts for Bank of America employees would be in contrast to those at Merrill, where CEO John Thain hurried out bonuses before Bank of America bought Merrill on Jan. 1. Since the deal was announced, Bank of America employees have complained that Merrill employees are getting better positions and absorbing fewer layoffs.

On Tuesday, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he had issued subpoenas seeking testimony from Thain and Bank of America Corp. chief administrative officer Steele Alphin in his investigation of those Merrill bonuses. Last week, Thain resigned from the combined bank, where he was to hold a major leadership position.

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