Bernanke to testify on BofA-Merrill deal - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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According to Dow Jones Bernanke is to appear before the House Committee on Oversigh and Government Reform onJune 25. Last to acquire the troubled brokerag late last year in an effort to savethe U.S. The hearing, conducted by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, focused on federal officials’ role in BofA’s purchaswe of Merrill Lynch. BofA . The deal resultedf in BofA’s receiving under the Troubled AsseRelief Program. BofA has received a total of $45 billio in TARP funds. Lewis has been under intenser pressure from BofA shareholders for not disclosint the depthof Merrill’ financial difficulties before the merger. Merrillo .
Lawmakers questioned Lewis on reportxs that he felt pressured by federal including Bernankeand then-Treasury Secretaryy Henry Paulson, to go aheads with the deal as Merrill’s lossees mounted. Lewis testified that BofA contacted officials atthe U.S. Treasuruy and Federal Reserve in mid-December to inform them that thebank “haf serious concerns about closing the BofA, he said, was considering declaring a “materia adverse change,” which can allow an acquirer to back out of a proposed deal.
Lewis testified that Paulson toldhim BofA’s managemenf “would or could” be removed if the bank backed out of the When lawmakers pressed him Thursday on the alleged threats by regulators, Lewis said both parties were concerned abouty making the best decisions for the healtj of the U.S. economy and BofA. He explained that a decisio n that would harm the economy would also harm BofA because of its massivse sizeand breadth. Lewis testifieed that he wasn’t intimidated by the threat of losing his job but bythe “seriousnesds of the threat” and the ramifications on the overallp economy had an influence on his decision.
“Just six month later, it is easy to forget just how closed to the brink oursystem came,” Lewis “I will never