Banking Industry: All eyes on Bank of America as WikiLeaks hints at new bombshell - by Rick Rothacker

Heading into the new year, a big question looms for Bank of America Corp.: What's next in the WikiLeaks saga?

Julian Assange, the anti-secrecy organization's founder, has said he is preparing a "megaleak" about a large bank, leading to speculation the Charlotte bank is the target. On Monday, he told the Times of London that he had enough information to make the bosses of a major bank resign. Meanwhile, Bank of America has cut off payments intended for WikiLeaks, spurring the group to tell customers to stop doing business with the bank. Other financial institutions that have foiled payments have faced cyberspace attacks from WikiLeaks supporters, but so far the bank doesn't appear to be suffering ill effects.

Analysts say it's possible WikiLeaks could stir up new trouble for the nation's biggest bank, perhaps exposing more problems in the mortgage arena or reviving questions about its Merrill Lynch acquisition. It's also possible the revelations cause little harm or that WikiLeaks bypasses the bank altogether.

A Bank of America employee told McClatchy Newspapers that it appeared the bank had recently stepped up security internally, taking steps to block access to websites such as Gmail on company laptops. The bank declined to comment on security procedures.

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