Today, Bank of America's CEO Kenneth Lewis said that he believed former Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke wanted him to "keep quiet" about the worsening terms of the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch comes to no surprize to me.
What we have here is just another example of the "let's take care of my friends" game that has been played and continues to be played by the good ole boys on Wall Street.
Lewis claims that Paulson and Bernanke warned him that failing to complete the Merrill Lynch takeover would "impose a big risk to the financial system". Has anyone explained why? Why Merrill Lynch and not Lehman Brothers? Surely both companies deserved to be saved, didn't they?
BofA had already received 25 billion from the TARP funds. In order to complete the deal for Merrill, BofA received 20 billion more.... before completing the deal for Merrill, didn't Kenneth Lewis read the financial statements of the company?
Or was he so worried about acquiring another "prized" bull, (remember Countrywide?), that he turned a blind eye!
Now he's pointing fingers! HA! He's acting like the kid who caught with his hand in the cookie jar, blaming everyone but himself for the debacle his company is involved in.
Mr. Lewis, I think it's time for you to take an Ethics class. You would probably not be visiting the Attorney General's office under these circumstances if you had remember the old adage "all that glitters is not gold".
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