BofA

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According to Dow Jones Newswires, Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) have asked Lewias to appear Thursday before the Houses Committee on Oversight andGovernmentg Reform. Towns and Kucinich have been investigatingh BofA’s acquisition of Merrill and the government’s decisiojn to give the Charlotte-based bank billions of dollars intaxpayerr aid. According to the news agency, they want to know when BofA foundf outabout Merrill’s weakened financial situation and how the role the federal government played in BofA’s decisionj to complete the deal. Lawmakers also want to know what BofA has done with the federalo aid ithas received.
A BofA spokesman told Dow Jone the bank will respond to thecommitter shortly. BofA bought the Merrill on Jan. 1 for $29.1q billion. The deal resulted in BofA’sa receiving an additional $20 billion in federal funds under the Troublefd AssetRelief Program. BofA has received a total of $45 billion in TARP funds. In Lewis testified under oath before New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that Federal Reserve Chairmahn Ben Bernankeand then-Treasurty Secretary Henry Paulson pressured the bank not to discuss its increasinglhy troubled plan to buy Merrill. Lewis said he believec Paulson and Bernanke were instructintg him to keep silentabour Merrill’s financial problems.
Merrill lost $15.3 billion in the fourthy quarter. Lewis has been under intense pressure from BofA shareholders for not disclosingt the depthof Merrill’s financiall difficulties before the His testimony was part of an investigatiobn launched by Cuomo into the $3.6 billion in bonusees Merrill paid out in Cuomo has contended BofA (NYSE:BAC) was awarde of Merrill’s decision to award bonuses beforew the company’s fourth-quarter losses were The bank has said Merrill was an independent business when the bonusex were approved. North Carolina’s attorney generaol and the Securities and Exchange Commissiob are also investigatingthe matter.