by Calculated Risk on 1/14/2009 06:39:00 PM

Form the WSJ: U.S. Negotiating More Aid for Bank of America

The U.S. government is close to committing billions in additional aid to Bank of America Corp. as the nation's largest bank by assets tries to digest its Jan. 1 acquisition of Merrill Lynch ...

... Bank of America ... told the U.S. Treasury Department it was unlikely to complete its purchase of the ailing Wall Street securities firm because of Merrill's larger-than-expected losses in the fourth quarter ...

Any possible arrangement might protect Bank of America from losses on Merrill's bad assets. There would be a cap on the amount of losses the bank would have to absorb with the federal government being on the hook for the remainder ...

Sounds like a severe case of indigestion and the earlier Countrywide acquisition can't be helping too.