Bank of America chief executive Kenneth Lewis told the New York attorney general he believed former US treasury secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke wanted him to keep quiet about the worsening terms of the bank’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch, according to testimony reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
The New York attorney general’s office planned to release the testimony yesterday to federal regulators and overseers of bailout funds and banks, the newspaper reported after reviewing a transcript.
Lewis testified in February to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office, which has been trying to determine whether Merrill Lynch and Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America failed to provide adequate disclosures to shareholders about the more than US$15 billion in losses that Merrill incurred in the fourth quarter and hefty bonus payments.
Had they had that information, Bank of America shareholders might have voted down the deal.
The Journal said in yesterday’s edition that Lewis did not say in the transcript that he was told specifically to remain silent about Merrill’s burgeoning losses.
But the paper quotes Lewis as testifying that disclosing that information “wasn’t up to me,” and that he was warned by Paulson and Bernanke that failing to complete Merrill’s takeover would “impose a big risk to the financial system.”
Citing a person familiar with the matter, the newspaper said Paulson told the New York attorney general’s office last month that Lewis may have misread some remarks about the Treasury’s disclosure requirements as instead pertaining to his bank’s obligations.
The US government helped orchestrate the acquisition of Merrill by Bank of America over the same weekend in September that another investment bank, Lehman Brothers, went under and insurer AIG received its initial government support. Both the government and Wall Street were under substantial pressure to contain the financial meltdown.
Bank of America had received US$25 billion in federal bailout funds, but was later given an additional US$20 billion as Lewis showed trepidation about completing Merrill’s purchase and said the bank needed help offsetting the losses it was absorbing from the troubled brokerage.
Just a few weeks after the deal was completed, Bank of America’s earnings report showed the major hit its balance sheet would take on the Merrill transaction, quickly making Lewis the target of much shareholder fury.
Two of the nation’s largest state pension funds are seeking to lead a class action lawsuit against Bank of America, alleging the bank’s management “misstated or omitted” important information about Merrill’s financial health before the deal was completed.
And Finger Interests Number One Ltd, which owns about one-fifth of one percent of Bank of America stock, is asking shareholders to vote against re-electing Lewis as well as lead director O Temple Sloan and Jackie Ward during the bank’s annual meeting on Wednesday.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RSS