US regulators said on Tuesday they could slap new charges on Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) over billions of dollars in bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives just before it took over the troubled firm last year.

The move came nearly a week after a judge overruled a multi-million dollar settlement between the bank and federal regulators over the bonus issue and ordered the case go to trial.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had earlier agreed to pay a penalty of 33 million dollars to the authorities "for misleading investors" about 3.6 billion dollars in bonuses paid to Merrill executives just as the firm was to be merged with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to avoid a Merrill bankruptcy.

The bonuses were kept secret from shareholders of both firms. The bank did not deny or admit to the charges.

"As we consider our legal options with respect to the court's ruling, we will vigorously pursue our charges against Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and take steps to prove our case in court," said a statement from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"We will use the additional discovery available in the litigation to further pursue the facts and determine whether to seek the court?s permission to bring additional charges in this case."

Following Federal Judge Jed Rakoff's September 14 decision to toss out the settlement plan, the SEC and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) have jointly filed a "case management plan" in court outlining steps they plan to take before heading to trial on February 1, 2010.

"We firmly believe that the settlement we submitted to the court was reasonable, appropriate and in the public interest," the SEC said Tuesday.

It maintained that Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) did not provide investors with "complete and accurate" information about the bonuses.

"We believe that this disclosure failure violated the federal securities laws."

Merrill Lynch's payment of cash bonuses on December 29, just ahead of the finalization of its acquisition by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) on January 1, sparked an outcry in the United States over executive compensation, particularly involving government bailed-out firms.

Merrill had posted a bigger-than-expected 2008 fourth-quarter loss of 15.8 billion dollars and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had received 20 billion dollars in federal aid to help it acquire the nearly bankrupt firm.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) repeatedly insisted it had left Merrill to operate independently before the takeover, as required by law, and had asked Merrill for updates about its situation after the takeover deal was signed in September.