Jun. 20--Ahead of a hearing next week, a U.S. House committee issued a subpoena Friday requesting more documents from the Federal Reserve about Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch & Co. acquisition.

The panel is investigating the role the Fed and the Treasury Department played in pressuring Bank of America last December to close the deal after the Charlotte bank tried to back out because of rising losses at Merrill. The Fed provided documents earlier this month at the panel's request that showed the Fed was willing to oust Bank of America management if the bank didn't complete the takeover, initially agreed to in mid-September.

Separately, the bank disclosed that two more directors have left its board, the latest in a corporate governance shakeup led by chairman Walter Massey. Retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks and retired Navy Admiral Joseph Prueher resigned on Wednesday, the bank said in a securities filing Friday. Their decisions were not the result of a disagreement with the bank or management, the filing said.

The board has now lost six of the 18 directors elected at April's annual shareholder meeting while adding four new members with financial expertise. Corporate governance experts have said the board could shrink even more in the revamp led by Massey, who became chairman after shareholders stripped the title from chief executive Ken Lewis.

Franks, 63, joined Bank of America's board in 2006. Prueher, 66, was one of three former Merrill Lynch & Co. directors elected to the board.

Meanwhile, the House committee is requesting more documents as it prepares to question Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at Thursday's hearing. A Fed spokesperson said the regulator got the subpoena and is responding as requested. The panel last week quizzed Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis, who was reluctant to criticize the regulators who hold sway over his bank.

A spokesperson for the Republicans on the committee said the panel, at the direction of ranking member Darrell Issa of California, is asking for nearly 100 documents, including e-mails from Bernanke, current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Lewis. The spokesperson said the Republicans would have preferred to have had Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson testify at the same time, but Paulson is likely to appear by himself next month.

"The more information that is coming to light, the more apparent it is becoming that Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis was pressured on a number of fronts regarding the acquisition of Merrill Lynch," Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella said. "The issue isn't about the decision to make the deal but rather the circumstances in which that decision was made and who was involved."

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