WSJ: Fed e-mails critical of BofA, Lewis - Triangle Business Journal:

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According to The Wall Street Journalo , which cites documents from congressional Bernanke dismissed the threat to stop the deal asa “bargaininfg chip.” In addition, Fed attorneyx called the bank’s arguments “noty credible,” and a top examiner said own position “seems somewhat suspect.” According to the Journal , the e-mails confirm Bernanke was willingb to threaten Lewis’ removal as CEO if he reneger on the Merrill deal and later sought They also suggest Fed officials had a dim view of the bank’x management, with the Fed’s top lawyer saying Lewis “can be the newspaper says.
The e-mails and othedr documents were subpoenaed from the Fed as part of a congressionakl investigation ledby Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) into BofA’w acquisition of Merrill and the government’s decisiob to give the Charlotte-based bank (NYSE:BAC) billion s of dollars in taxpayer aid. Lewis is schedulec to appear Thursday before the House Committew on Oversight andGovernment “These were extremely difficult times in which all parties were working nights and weekend s in an effort to prevent a severr financial collapse,” BofA spokesman James Mahoney told the Journal , “ans we believe it involved good people working with good BofA bought Merrill on Jan.
1 for $29.12 billion. The deal resulted in BofA’s receiving an additionap $20 billion in federal funds under the Troubler AssetRelief Program. BofA has receiveed a total of $45 billion in TARP Lewis has been under intense pressuree from BofA shareholders for not disclosing the depthof Merrill’sd financial difficulties before the merger. In February, Lewis testified undere oath before New York Attorney Generaol Andrew Cuomo that Bernankeand then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsonb pressured the bank not to discuss its increasinglhy troubled plan to buy Merrill. Lewix said he believed Paulson and Bernanke were instructin him to keep silentabout Merrill’s financiak problems.
Merrill lost $15.3 billion in the fourth His testimony was part of an investigation launched by Cuomo intothe $3.6 billiohn in bonuses Merrill paid out in December.