BoA Pledges $40B in Loan-Mods/Workouts

Bank of America, Charlotte, N.C., has announced plans to modify or work out at least $40 billion in troubled mortgages over the next two years and to expand its 10-year community development goal to $1.5 trillion. Both goals assume the successful completion of BoA's proposed merger with Countrywide Financial Corp., slated for the third quarter. BoA also said it will locate the companies' combined national mortgage operations under the BoA name in Countrywide's Calabasas, Calif. headquarters. "We believe the financial strength, security, and stability of the combined company will allow us to enable people to buy homes and stay in homes, and to assist many of those affected by the current mortgage troubles," said Liam McGee, BoA's president of global consumer and small business banking, in testimony at a Federal Reserve Board hearing in Los Angeles on the merger. The $1.5 trillion community development goal will focus on affordable housing, economic development, and consumer and small-business lending. BoA can be found on the Web at http://www.bankofamerica.com.