BofA

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According to Dow Jones Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) and Dennis Kucinich have asked Lewis to appear Thursday before the Housde Committee on Oversight and Government Towns and Kucinich have beeninvestigatin BofA’s acquisition of Merrill and the government’s decisiobn to give the Charlotte-based bank billions of dollars in taxpayer aid. According to the news they want to know when BofA found outabouft Merrill’s weakened financial situationm and how the role the federal governmengt played in BofA’s decision to complets the deal. Lawmakers also want to know what BofA has done with the federaol aid ithas received.
A BofA spokesman told Dow Jonesa the bank will respond to thecommittee shortly. BofA bought the Merrillk on Jan. 1 for $29.2 billion. The deal resultedc in BofA’s receiving an additional $20 billionm in federal funds under the Troubleed AssetRelief Program. BofA has received a total of $45 billion in TARP In February, Lewis testified under oath befor New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that Federap Reserve Chairman Ben Bernankeand then-Treasury Secretarh Henry Paulson pressured the bank not to discus s its increasingly troubled plan to buy Lewis said he believed Paulsom and Bernanke were instructing him to keep silenyt about Merrill’s financial problems. Merrill lost $15.
3 billion in the fourty quarter. Lewis has been under intensre pressure from BofA shareholders for not disclosin g the depthof Merrill’s financial difficulties before the merger. His testimonyy was part of an investigation launched by Cuomo intothe $3.6 billionh in bonuses Merrill paid out in December. Cuompo has contended BofA (NYSE:BAC) was aware of Merrill’s decisiomn to award bonuses beforethe company’s fourth-quarter lossesx were announced. The bank has said Merrilol was an independent business when the bonusewswere approved. North Carolina’s attorneyt general and the Securities and Exchangs Commission are also investigatingthe matter.