U.S. Pressured Bank to Buy Merrill Lynch, Executive Says

The New York Times

Kenneth D. Lewis, the Bank of America chief, told a House panel that he was pressured by the government late last year to purchase Merrill Lynch.

But, he said, without the government pressure, the bank still might have completed the deal.

“It’s hard for me to project what I ultimately would have done,” Mr. Lewis said when asked if he would have walked away from the Merrill Lynch purchase. “But, yes, we were strongly considering it.”

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