Bank of America’s Lewis May Face SEC Probe on Merrill

[notesdev]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aJbR4ycD20iA

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth D. Lewis may face scrutiny by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to disclose mounting losses at Merrill Lynch & Co. because of pressure from federal regulators to complete the takeover.

“We have been actively reviewing the disclosure surrounding the merger between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch,” said agency spokesman John Nester. “The issues identified in New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s letter are part of our review.”

Cuomo revealed in a letter yesterday to Congress and federal regulators that Lewis testified in December that then- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson may have threatened to remove the bank’s management and directors if the lender tried to back out of buying Merrill. Lewis said he was instructed by federal officials not to disclose Merrill’s losses, his desire to back out of the merger or the intervention of regulators, according to Cuomo.

Former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt said he has “no doubt” the agency will investigate. Lewis was obligated to make full disclosure to shareholders even with the regulators’ pressure, Pitt said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

“At least he could have demonstrated he was acting at the request of an official of the U.S. government,” Pitt said.

The allegations in Cuomo’s letter suggest Paulson and other policy makers may have resorted to breaking securities laws to protect a fragile financial system, according to Peter Sorrentino, a senior portfolio manager at Cincinnati-based Huntington Asset Advisors, which has about $13.3 billion under management and doesn’t own stock in Charlotte, North Carolina- based Bank of America.

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The walls are starting to close in on Paulson and Bernanke. Forget the torturers, that's just a distraction while they pick our pockets. The real big time criminals are the ones who have been running Treasury and the Fed, and this is a total slam dunk of a case.

Hope Hank looks good in stripes!

[SlowDownFast]

1. Methinks Lewis is telling the truth:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x63860

Now we know exactly why we got Turbo-Timmy as Treasury Secretary.

Also, this is why Paulson demanded impunity/immunity from Congress.

As far as I know, he did not get it.

I sincerely hope Cuomo hasn't been hanging around with any hookers. I also hope he's got very good bodyguards 24/7.

The wheels are coming off the train...

[Fire1]

2. It looks like 'Roll over' time! How does that subtraction song go?

......"So, they all rolled over and one fell out, there were nine in the bed and the little one said, Roll over, roll over!! LOL!!!
This is grrrrreat!!!