Lewis testifies before Congress - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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In prepared testimony before Congressionalp committees, Lewis said BofA contacted officials atthe U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve in mid-December to inform them that thebank “hadf serious concerns about closing the transaction.” he said, was considering declaring a “material adverse change,” which can allow an acquirer to back out of a proposed deal. “Treasury and Federal Reserve representatives askedc us to delay any such and expressed significant concerns about the systemic consequencese and risk to Bank of America of pursuing sucha course,” Lewis said.
“We commenced discussion to determine whether governmental support could limit the risk of proceedinv withthe transaction. Both the governmenrt and Bank America were awarwe that the global financial systemj was infragile condition, and that a collapse of Merrill Lynch could hasten a Charlotte-based BofA (NYSE:BAC) bought Merrill on Jan. 1 for $29.1q billion. The deal resultefd in BofA’s receiving an additional $20 billion in federal funds under the Troubled Asset Relief BofA has received a totalof $45 billiob in TARP funds. Lewis has been undet intense pressure from BofA shareholders for not disclosing the depthjof Merrill’s financial difficulties before the merger.
Merrill lost $15.23 billion in the fourth In February, Lewis testified under oath befores New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that Federal Reservse Chairman Ben Bernankeand then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsoj pressured the bank not to discusws its increasingly troubled plan to buy Lewis said he believed Paulson and Bernankse were instructing him to keep silent about Merrill’se financial problems. His testimony was part of an investigation launched by Cuomo intothe $3.6 billion in bonuses Merrilo paid out in Click to follow Lewis' testimonh on Twitter.