Bank of America

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SEC: Mozilo OK’d Countrywide preferential loans

Federal regulators say former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo personally approved mortgages for favored borrowers that violated the company’s policies and lending standards.

The Securities and Exchange Commission had previously accused Mozilo of civil fraud and illegal insider trading. Now, the agency says Mozilo played a direct role in a program for preferential borrowers that has been the focus of congressional ethics inquiries. Get the full story »

Credit card rates hit highest level in 9 years

(Getty Images)

(Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)

Interest rates continue to tumble for the U.S. Treasury, companies and home buyers alike. But for a large portion of 381 million U.S. credit-card accounts, borrowing rates have been moving only one way: up.

And average rates are likely to climb further soon. New credit-card rules that took effect Sunday limit banks’ ability to charge penalty fees. They come on top of rule changes earlier this year restricting issuers’ ability to adjust rates on the fly. Issuers responded by pushing card rates to their highest level in nine years. Get the full story »

BofA, Lewis deny charges in Merrill Lynch deal

Bank of America Corp. and former Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis denied civil fraud charges brought by New York’s attorney general over the bank’s takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co. amid the 2008 financial crisis.

In court papers filed Wednesday, Lewis said the state’s prosecutor Andrew Cuomo had no basis in his lawsuit to allege a conspiracy to mislead the public and shareholders about Merrill’s deteriorating finances and Bank of America’s desire for government assistance. Get the full story »

GM IPO to have 4 lead underwriters

General Motors Co. will have four lead underwriters on its IPO, according to a source familiar with the situation.

They will be Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, the source said. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley helped the automaker prepare the paperwork for the IPO. Get the full story »

Ameristar Casinos looking at ’strategic alternatives’

The parent company of Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago in Hammond, Ind., confirmed Wednesday it is exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company.

The company said it retained Lazard and Bank of America Merrill Lynch as its financial advisers and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP as its legal adviser in the process. Get the full story »

Notebook: Credit cards with the clearest terms

Capital One and Bank of America are the most up-front about the interest rates, fees and rewards on their credit cards, according to a new study by credit card research Web site Cardhub.com.

Sure, most card applications spell out all the terms in the fine print, but most consumers lack the patience to read the tiny disclosures.

Capital One and Bank of America ranked highest among 10 issuers in clarity on their applications, with scores of 96.4 percent and 95 percent, respectively. Get the full story »

Slow start for second mortgage HAMP program

Only four of the eight largest mortgage servicers have committed to participate in a government-sponsored, yet voluntary, program designed to aid troubled homeowners with second mortgages, new data released Tuesday shows.

Of the four servicers participating in the second lien modification program — Bank of America, CitiMortgage, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo Bank — only Bank of America and Chase were “operationally ready” and extending modification offers to consumers this spring, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. Get the full story »

Earnings up, shares down for Citi, BofA

Bank of America and Citigroup posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings on lower credit losses, but their shares fell as the banks highlighted the challenge of boosting revenue in a stagnant economy.

As with JPMorgan Chase & Co., which reported Thursday, the banks’ investment banking profits were down, a bleak sign for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley, whose results are due next week. Get the full story »

New BofA account free, but no tellers or paper

Bank of America is rolling out nationwide a bank account with no fees. Just don’t ask for a paper statement and stay out of the teller line. The nation’s largest retail bank said Thursday its new checking account, aimed at the iPhone set, is free of fees provided the customer requests electronic statements and prefers automated tellers. Get the full story »

How Chase, BofA will handle debit overdrafts

Chicago’s two biggest banks have diverging strategies on how to treat customers who overdraw their accounts using ATM and debit cards.

Starting July 1 for new customers and Aug. 15 for existing ones, banks need a consumer’s approval to process everyday debit and ATM card transactions that exceed the account balance. In the past, banks often have covered overdrafts, but socked the account holder with a $20 or $30 fee. Get the full story »