Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday again denied threatening Bank of America executives if they halted a merger with Merrill Lynch or pressuring them to withhold bad news about Merrill.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee have charged the Fed with covering up its involvement in the merger and of hiding important details from other federal regulators.

Neither I nor any member of the Federal Reserve ever directed, instructed, or advised Bank of America to withhold from public disclosure any information relating to Merrill Lynch, Bernanke said in testimony prepared for delivery to the panel.

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

Bank of america Ben Bernanke Merrill Lynch