UPDATE 1-FINRA panel awards former Merrill CFO $1.2 mln

* Former Merrill CFO requested $70 mln in damages- FINRA

* Fakahany left Merrill in February 2008 (Adds Fakahany attorney comment, details on Fakahany's background; edits throughout)

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 29 (Reuters) - Ahmass Fakahany, Merrill Lynch & Co's former chief financial officer, received $1.2 million in damages from his bank in arbitration after asking for more than $70 million, an industry group said.

Fakahany filed an arbitration claim against Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) in December 2008 for an unspecified reason, according to recent documents from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

The FINRA arbitration panel did not provide reasons for their ruling, which is typical in arbitration.

John Orsini, an attorney for Fakahany during the dispute, told Reuters the amount of requested damages in the filing was incorrect, but declined to comment further.

Fakahany worked at Merrill Lynch for two decades, holding a number of senior roles including co-chief operating officer and CFO. He left the bank in February 2008.

Further details of the arbitration were not publicly available.

Respondents in the case included Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain.

Merrill Lynch was bought by Bank of America in January 2009. Thain agreed to sell the investment bank over the same weekend in September 2008 that Lehman Brothers failed. (Reporting by Joe Rauch; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Tim Dobbyn)