Federal regulators have accused Bank of America Corp. in a new lawsuit of failing to disclose extraordinary financial losses at Merrill Lynch before shareholders approved a combination of the companies.

In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, the Securities and Exchange Commission said the information was left out when the companies announced their deal in September 2008.

The agency is seeking unspecified damages. It said information about the losses should have been announced because it was not reflected in Merrill's quarterly reports or other filings.

The bank said Monday there was no merit to the new claims. A message Tuesday was not immediately returned.