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The government threatened to oust Bank of America Chief Executive Ken Lewis if the bank didn't go through with its acquisition of struggling investment bank Merrill Lynch, according to the results of an investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo released Thursday
"Paulson told Cuomo's office that he made the threat at the request of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke..." (the word request should probably be in quotes there hehe)
Bank of America agreed to buy Merrill on Sept. 15, in the midst of the financial crisis, and shareholders approved the deal on Dec. 5. Soon after that, Merrill finalized billions of dollars in bonuses, according to Cuomo's letter.
Merrill's losses then began mounting quickly and ended up reaching roughly $15 billion in the fourth quarter -- $7 billion more than was projected before Bank of America shareholders voted on the acquisition and Merrill set its bonuses, Cuomo recounted.
"These additional losses, some of which had become known to Bank of America executives prior to the merger vote, were not disclosed to shareholders until mid-January 2009, two weeks after the merger had closed," Cuomo wrote.
"Paulson told Cuomo's office that he made the threat at the request of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke..." (the word request should probably be in quotes there hehe)
Bank of America agreed to buy Merrill on Sept. 15, in the midst of the financial crisis, and shareholders approved the deal on Dec. 5. Soon after that, Merrill finalized billions of dollars in bonuses, according to Cuomo's letter.
Merrill's losses then began mounting quickly and ended up reaching roughly $15 billion in the fourth quarter -- $7 billion more than was projected before Bank of America shareholders voted on the acquisition and Merrill set its bonuses, Cuomo recounted.
"These additional losses, some of which had become known to Bank of America executives prior to the merger vote, were not disclosed to shareholders until mid-January 2009, two weeks after the merger had closed," Cuomo wrote.