, April 19 (Reuters) – Regulators should keep
an “open mind” about making banks pay up front for access to
central bank liquidity as part of new rules to ensure that big
firms can withstand severe financial stress, a senior U.S.
Federal Reserve official said on Friday.

Fed Board Governor Jeremy Stein, weighing in on the complex
issue of liquidity coverage ratios being worked on by the Basle
banking committee, also said it made no sense to allow unpriced
access to central banks’ ‘lender of last resort’ capacity.

CHARLOTTE, NC, April 18 (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve
should consider halting its purchases of mortgage bonds as the
U.S. housing market recovers, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey
Lacker said on Thursday.

“What’s going on in the housing market ought to get us
thinking about pulling back from that and stopping MBS purchases
first and maybe selling off MBS or swapping MBS for Treasury
(bonds),” he told reporters on the sidelines of a Richmond Fed
conference.

By Rick Rothacker

(Reuters) – Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has launched a bank-wide initiative to boost revenue, but Chief Executive Brian Moynihan has his work cut out in proving that he can get the bank to grow robustly as it moves past its mortgage problems.

The huge challenge he faces was underlined on Wednesday when the bank, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, reported that its adjusted revenue in the first quarter fell 8.4 percent to $23.85 billion, as all of the bank’s major business segments declined except for wealth management. The bank’s revenue has now fallen by more than a quarter since Moynihan came into office.

April 18 (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp has
launched a bank-wide initiative to boost revenue, but Chief
Executive Brian Moynihan has his work cut out in proving that he
can get the bank to grow robustly as it moves past its mortgage
problems.

The huge challenge he faces was underlined on Wednesday when
the bank, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, reported that
its adjusted revenue in the first quarter fell 8.4 percent to
$23.85 billion, as all of the bank’s major business segments
declined except for wealth management. The bank’s revenue has
now fallen by more than a quarter since Moynihan came into
office.

By Rick Rothacker and Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) – Bank of America Corp reported a lower-than-expected first-quarter profit and its revenue fell, sending the No. 2 U.S. bank’s shares down 3 percent before the bell on Wednesday.

Net income quadrupled to $2.62 billion, or 20 cents per share, from $653 million, or 3 cents per share a year earlier as expenses dropped and the bank set aside less money to cover bad loans.

April 17 (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp reported a
lower-than-expected first-quarter profit and its revenue fell,
sending the No. 2 U.S. bank’s shares down 3 percent before the
bell on Wednesday.

Net income quadrupled to $2.62 billion, or 20 cents per
share, from $653 million, or 3 cents per share a year earlier as
expenses dropped and the bank set aside less money to cover bad
loans.

April 12 (Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co reported a
higher-than-expected 23 percent rise in first-quarter profit on
Friday, but its mortgage business showed further signs of
slowing and net interest margins continued to shrink.

Wells Fargo shares were down 2 percent at $36.78 in
premarket trading.

The fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets has emerged from the
financial crisis as the leading U.S. home lender as other banks
have pulled back from a business that burned them during the
housing boom.

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) – A private equity firm spun off from Bank of America Corp in 2010 has raised its first fund, allowing it to continue making investments in mid-sized companies as the No. 2 U.S. bank pulls back from the business.

Ridgemont Equity Partners executives told Reuters that the firm received total commitments of $735 million from institutional investors in the United States, Europe and Asia. They include AlpInvest Partners Inc and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, but not Bank of America.

March 28 (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp’s co-chief
operating officer, Tom Montag, was once again the bank’s highest
paid executive in 2012, as his pay climbed 21 percent to $14.5
million.

Montag’s compensation, which included a $5.46 million bonus
and $8.19 million in stock, eclipsed the $12 million awarded to
Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, according to a filing the bank
made on Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission.

BOSTON/CHARLOTTE (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Brian Moynihan will need to hold shares likely worth millions of dollars for at least a year after he retires, under a new compensation policy that the bank instituted following investor pressure.

The new compensation policy also requires some other top executives to keep a minimum number of shares of the bank at least until they retire, according to correspondence between the bank and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that was seen by Reuters.