Mellon Bank Corp. sued Bank of New York in response to BONY's attempt to merge the two companies, citing Bank of New York's alledged use of confidential information obtained during previous merger talks that had been dropped.
Bank of New York responded to news of the suit with a written statement, saying ``Mellon's response was hasty and its lawsuit is an effort to prevent us from communicating the merits of our proposal.'' The Bank of New York statement said it will proceed with a merger only if it is friendly.
The Bank of New York yesterday publicly proposed to Mellon's board that the two banks merge in a $24 billion deal.
