A group of House Democrats are stepping up demands for greater transparency from the Federal Reserve after reports that the Fed mishandled the bailout of insurance giant American International Group.

In a report released Tuesday by the comptroller of New York State, Wall Street profits in 2009 are on track to exceed the record set three years ago, reports the New York Times.

Former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain, who was fired after a scandal over the payment of billions of bonuses to Merrill traders, argued that big payouts played no role in triggering the financial crisis.

Former Bank of America general counsel Timothy Mayopoulos said he was 'stunned' to be fired as the bank was trying to wrap up its purchase of Merrill Lynch, after being told he would become the combined company's new general counsel.

Robert McCann, the former head of Merrill Lynch's brokerage unit, was named the head of UBS's private client group.

In the past two years, powerful figures in both Washington and Wall Street became household names as the crisis deepened, markets and corporations struggled to survive and the federal government took drastic steps to save the economy. Whether they had a crucial hand in the crisis or were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time may not be clear for years.  Now, one year after the roughest stretch for the U.S. economy since the Great Depression, these financial titans have either stepped out of the spotlight or come to the end of their careers, voluntarily or not.  So where they now? Click ahead to find out!

The Wall Street giants that received a financial lifeline from Washington may have no compunction about paying big bonuses to their dealmakers and traders. But their willingness to deliver “thank you” gifts to President Obama and the Democrats is another question altogether.

There, now do we feel better?  I sure hope so, now that President Obama’s finger-wagging pay czar has intimidated Bank of America’s much-maligned chief, Kenneth D. Lewis, into giving up all compensation for this year.

Bank of America executives met today with several government entities in the continuing investigation of what the bank disclosed about losses and bonuses at Merrill Lynch when it acquired the brokerage giant late last year, CNBC has learned.

Concluding that some of the nation’s biggest banks are in good enough shape to raise capital from private investors, senior Treasury officials would like more of them to repay billions of dollars in taxpayer money that bailed them out over the last year.

E-mail messages from Bank of America reveal formerly secret discussions about its ill-fated merger with Merrill Lynch.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has entered an agreement with Bank of America over the disclosure of information in the Merrill Lynch bonuses case, the SEC said Tuesday.

Bank of America has agreed to hand over to investigators documents  related to its purchase of Merrill Lynch, CNBC has confirmed.

Robert McCann, the former head of Merrill Lynch's brokerage group plans to join UBS, either to head its wealth management unit or for a higher position, CNBC has learned.

As the Obama administration’s pay czar, Kenneth R. Feinberg, contemplates curbing compensation for the top 100 executives at each of the seven companies that received big bailouts — including Bank of America — the Merrill Lynch experience raises some sobering questions.