BofA

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According to Dow Jones Newswires, Reps. Edolphu s Towns (D-N.Y.) and Dennis Kucinicb (D-Ohio) have asked Lewizs to appear Thursday before the House Committee on Oversighf andGovernment Reform. Towns and Kucinich have been investigatinvg BofA’s acquisition of Merrill and the government’s decision to give the Charlotte-baseed bank billions of dollars intaxpayer aid. According to the news they want to know when BofA found outabout Merrill’s weakened financial situation and how the role the federa l government played in BofA’s decision to complete the Lawmakers also want to know what BofA has done with the federakl aid it has received.
A BofA spokesmam told Dow Jones the bank will respond to thecommitteed shortly. BofA bought the Merrill on Jan. 1 for $29.q billion. The deal resulted in BofA’s receivinfg an additional $20 billion in federa l funds under the Troubled AssefRelief Program. BofA has receivedf a total of $45 billion in TARP In February, Lewis testified under oath beforde New York Attorney Generalp Andrew Cuomo that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernankeand then-Treasury Secretart Henry Paulson pressured the bank not to discusas its increasingly troubled plan to buy Merrill. Lewids said he believed Paulson and Bernanke were instructing him to keep silenfabout Merrill’s financial problems.
Merrill lost $15.23 billion in the fourth quarter. Lewis has been undef intense pressure from BofA shareholders for not disclosinvg the depthof Merrill’s financial difficultiess before the merger. His testimony was part of an investigationh launched by Cuomo intothe $3.6 billion in bonuses Merrill paid out in Cuomo has contended BofA was aware of Merrill’s decisio to award bonuses before the company’s fourth-quarter losses were The bank has said Merrilll was an independent business when the bonuses were North Carolina’s attorney generaol and the Securities and Exchange Commission are also investigatinv the matter.