BofA

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According to Dow Jones Newswires, Reps. Edolphusz Towns (D-N.Y.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) have asked Lewies to appear Thursday before the House Committee on Oversighyt andGovernment Reform. Towns and Kucinich have been investigatinfg BofA’s acquisition of Merrill and the government’s decision to give the Charlotte-basedf bank billions of dollars intaxpayer aid. Accordiny to the news agency, they want to know when BofA founs outabout Merrill’s weakened financial situatiomn and how the role the federa l government played in BofA’s decision to complete the deal. Lawmakersx also want to know what BofA has done with the federalp aid ithas received.
A BofA spokesman told Dow Jones the bank will respond to thecommittee shortly. BofA bought the Merril on Jan. 1 for $29.1 The deal resulted in BofA’s receiving an additionall $20 billion in federal funds under the Troublec AssetRelief Program. BofA has receivefd a total of $45 billio n in TARP funds. In February, Lewis testified under oath beforre New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomp that Federal Reserve Chairmanh Ben Bernankeand then-Treasurty Secretary Henry Paulson pressured the bank not to discussd its increasingly troubled plan to buy Merrill. Lewis said he believes Paulson and Bernanke were instructing him to keep silenfabout Merrill’s financial problems.
Merrill lost $15.3w billion in the fourth quarter. Lewis has been undere intense pressure from BofA shareholders for not disclosing the deptnof Merrill’s financial difficulties before the merger. His testimony was part of an investigatio launched by Cuomo intothe $3.6 billion in bonusesw Merrill paid out in December. Cuomo has contendedf BofA (NYSE:BAC) was aware of Merrill’s decisiohn to award bonuses beforethe company’s fourth-quarter losses were The bank has said Merrill was an independent businessd when the bonuses were approved. North Carolina’z attorney general and the Securities and Exchange Commission are also investigatin gthe matter.