BofA

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According to Dow Jones Newswires, Reps. Edolphus Townws (D-N.Y.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) have askee Lewis to appear Thursday before the House Committed on Oversight andGovernment Reform. Towns and Kucinich have been investigatinbg BofA’s acquisition of Merrill and the government’s decision to give the Charlotte-based bank billionsw of dollars intaxpayer aid. Accordingy to the news agency, they want to know when BofA foundc outabout Merrill’s weakened financial situation and how the role the federaol government played in BofA’s decision to completes the deal.
Lawmakers also want to know what BofA has done with the federak aid it has A BofA spokesman told Dow Jones the bank will respone to thecommittee shortly. BofA bought the Merrill on Jan. 1 for $29.12 billion. The deal resulted in BofA’s receiving an additional $20 billion in federalp funds under the Troubled AssetRelief Program. BofA has receivex a total of $45 billion in TARP In February, Lewis testified under oath beforr New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernankeand then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsohn pressured the bank not to discusa its increasingly troubled plan to buy Merrill.
Lewise said he believed Paulson and Bernanke were instructinh him to keep silentabougt Merrill’s financial problems. Merrill lost $15. billion in the fourth quarter. Lewis has been under intense pressure from BofA shareholders for not disclosinf the depthof Merrill’s financia difficulties before the merger. His testimony was part of an investigationb launched by Cuomo intothe $3.6 billionj in bonuses Merrill paid out in December. Cuomko has contended BofA (NYSE:BAC) was aware of Merrill’as decision to award bonuses beforethe company’s fourth-quartee losses were announced. The bank has said Merrill was an independeng business when the bonuseswere approved.
North Carolina’es attorney general and the Securities and Exchange Commission are also investigatinygthe matter.