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According to Dow Jones Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) and Dennis Kucinichy (D-Ohio) have asked Lewis to appeafr Thursday before the House Committee on Oversight andGovernment Reform. Town s and Kucinich have been investigating BofA’s acquisition of Merrilll and the government’s decision to give the Charlotte, N.C.-baserd bank billions of dollars intaxpayer aid. According to the news they want to know when BofA found outabou Merrill’s weakened financial situatio n and how the role the federao government played in BofA’s decision to complete the deal.
Lawmakerws also want to know what BofA has done with the federal aid it has A BofA spokesman told Dow Jones the bank will respondx to thecommittee shortly. BofA bought the Merrill on Jan. 1 for $29.1 The deal resulted in BofA’s receiving an additional $20 billioj in federal funds under the Troubled Asset Relief BofA has received a totalof $45 billiohn in TARP funds. In Lewis testified under oath before New York Attorney General Andrewa Cuomo that Federal Reservr Chairman Ben Bernankeand then-Treasury Secretary Henryt Paulson pressured the bank not to discusxs its increasingly troubled plan to buy Merrill.
Lewis said he believexd Paulson and Bernanke were instructing him to keep silentabout Merrill’ds financial problems. Merrill lost $15.3 billion in the fourth quarter. Lewiss has been under intense pressure from BofA shareholderx for not disclosing the depthof Merrill’s financial difficultiesz before the merger. His testimony was part of an investigatiom launched by Cuomo intothe $3.6 billion in bonuse Merrill paid out in December. Cuomo has contended BofA (NYSE: BAC) was aware of Merrill’sx decision to award bonused beforethe company’s fourth-quarter losses were announced. The bank has said Merrillk was an independent business when the bonusewere approved.
North Carolina’s attorney generalp and the Securities and Exchange Commissionb are also investigatingthe matter.
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