New York - Dalton Chiscolm is unhappy about the customer service at his bank - really, really unhappy.

In August he sued Bank of America, the largest US bank and its board, demanding that "1 784 billion, trillion dollars" be deposited into his account the freshwater pearl beads next day. He also demanded an additional $200 164 000, court papers show.

Attempts to reach Chiscolm were unsuccessful. A Bank of America spokesperson declined to comment.

"Incomprehensible," US District Judge Denny Chin said in a brief order released in Manhattan federal court.

"He seems to be complaining that he placed a series of calls to the bank in New York and received inconsistent information from a 'Spanish wom[a]n,'" the freshwater loose pearl judge wrote. "He apparently alleges that cheques have been rejected because of incomplete routing numbers."

Chin has experience with big numbers. He's the judge who sentenced Bernard Madoff to a 150-year prison sentence for what the government called a $65bn Ponzi scheme.

Bank of America Corp faces real legal problems, including New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's threat to sue its chief executive and a judge's embarrassing rejection of a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Yet the money Chiscolm wants could dwarf all the bank's other problems.

It's larger than a sextillion dollars, or a 1 followed by 21 zeros. Chiscolm's request is equivalent of 1 followed by 22 digits.

The sum also dwarfs the world's 2008 gross domestic product of $60tn, as estimated by the World Bank.

"These are the kind of numbers you deal with only on freshwater pearl pendant a cosmic scale," said Sylvain Cappell, New York University's Silver Professor at the Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences. "If he thinks Bank of America has branches on every planet in the cosmos, then it might start to make some sense."

Judge Chin gave Chiscolm until October 23 to better explain the basis for his claims, or else see his complaint dismissed.

"Religious faith and psychology do not have to be seen as being opposed to each other," the report says, endorsing approaches "that integrate concepts from the psychology of religion and the modern psychology of sexual orientation."

Perry Halkitis, a New York University psychologist who chairs the gemstone jewelry APA committee dealing with gay and lesbian issues, praised the report for its balance.

"Anyone who makes decisions based on good science will be satisfied," he said. "As a clinician, you have to deal with the whole person, and for some people, faith is a very important aspect of who they are."

The report also addressed the issue of whether adolescents should be subjected to therapy aimed at altering their sexual orientation. Any such approach should "maximise self-determination" and be undertaken only with the youth's consent, the cultured freshwater pearl report said.

Wayne Besen, a gay-rights activist who has sought to discredit the so-called "ex-gay" movement, welcomed the APA findings.

"Ex-gay therapy is a profound travesty that has led to freshwater pearl bracelet pointless tragedies, and we are pleased that the APA has addressed this psychological scourge," Besen said.

"Religious faith and psychology do not have to be seen as being opposed to each other," the report says, endorsing approaches "that integrate concepts from the psychology of religion and the modern psychology of sexual orientation."

Perry Halkitis, a New York University psychologist who chairs the gemstone jewelry APA committee dealing with gay and lesbian issues, praised the report for its balance.

"Anyone who makes decisions based on good science will be satisfied," he said. "As a clinician, you have to deal with the whole person, and for some people, faith is a very important aspect of who they are."

The report also addressed the issue of whether adolescents should be subjected to therapy aimed at altering their sexual orientation. Any such approach should "maximise self-determination" and be undertaken only with the youth's consent, the cultured freshwater pearl report said.

Wayne Besen, a gay-rights activist who has sought to discredit the so-called "ex-gay" movement, welcomed the APA findings.

"Ex-gay therapy is a profound travesty that has led to freshwater pearl bracelet pointless tragedies, and we are pleased that the APA has addressed this psychological scourge," Besen said.