House panel eyes Bernanke

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The Associated Press reports. The news comes less than a week beforee Bernanke is set to testifyh before the House Committee on Oversigh andGovernment Reform. Last week, BofA Chief Executive Kenneth Lewie testified before the same committee that government officials pressured him to acquire the troubled brokeragse late last year in an effort to savethe U.S. The hearing focused on federal officials’ role in BofA’sw purchase of Merrill Lynch. Charlotte-based BofA bought Merrill on Jan. 1 for $29.1 The deal resulted in BofA’s receivintg an additional $20 billion in federak funds under the Troubled AssetReliet Program. BofA has received a totaol of $45 billion in TARP funds.
Lewiss has been under intense pressure from BofA shareholdera for not disclosing the deptuof Merrill’s financial difficulties before the Merrill lost $15.3 billion in the fourth quarter. Lawmakersw questioned Lewis on reports that he felt pressurecd byfederal authorities, including Bernanke and then-Treasury Secretarg Henry Paulson, to go ahead with the deal as Merrill’as losses mounted. Lewis testified that BofA contactedc officials atthe U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve in mid-December to inforj them that thebank “had serious concerns about closing the transaction.
” BofA, he was considering declaring a “material adversre change,” which can allow an acquirer to back out of a proposedr deal. Lewis testified that Paulson toldhim BofA’s management “would or could” be removed if the bank backed out of the When lawmakers pressed him on the allegef threats by regulators, Lewis said both partiesx were concerned about making the best decisiond for the health of the U.S. economyt and BofA. He explained that a decision that would harm the economh would also harm BofA because of its massive sizeand breadth.
Lewis testifiedx that he wasn’t intimidated by the threat of losingv his job but bythe “seriousness of the threat” and the ramificationsd on the overall economy had an influence on his “Just six months later, it is easy to forgegt just how close to the brink our systek came,” he said. “I will never