Merrill Lynch & Co paid Latin American investment banker Alexandre Bettamio, whom it poached from UBS AG, at least $7 million in guaranteed bonuses for 2008, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The firm's investment bankers in Latin America, including Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, earned revenue of about $50 million through late December, while piling up at least $100 million in expenses, most of them compensation-related, one person familiar with the results told the paper.

Merrill could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and U.S. Rep. Barney Frank demanded on Monday that Bank of America Corp provide more details on $6.9 billion in bonuses paid in 2008, including $3.6 billion at Merrill Lynch & Co.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore, editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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