Bank of America sues to keep LaSalle right

NEW YORK -- Bank of America sued ABN Amro Bank in New York federal court Friday to safeguard its $21 billion purchase of LaSalle Bank.

In its suit, Bank of America seeks to verify it has the legal right to buy LaSalle, the Chicago-based bank Amro promised to sell to BoA as part of the Dutch bank's merger deal with Britain's Barclays.

The suit also seeks to keep Amro from selling LaSalle to anyone else or even negotiating with potential buyers, the Wall Street Journal said.

Bank of America also seeks unspecified monetary damages. It says unless the sale to someone else is blocked it stands to suffer "billions" in damages.

The suit follows a ruling Thursday by a Dutch court, ordering ABN to halt the sale of LaSalle until shareholders can vote on it. A consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland wants to make a competing bid for ABN and LaSalle.

Copyright 2007 United Press International