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The article discusses developer Larry Freed's dealings with creditors on two separate commercial real-estate projects on the same street in Chicago, Illinois. On one project, Bank of America Co. is seeking foreclosure due to Freed's refusal to contribute more capital. With the other project, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Freed have negotiated new terms for repayment of the bank's $170 million loan.

The article reports that a U.S. Congressional committee is investigating the lending practices of several banks that have received federal assistance from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Several banks including Citigroup Inc. and Bank of American Corp. have raised interest rates on credit-card customers, marketed high-interest loans, or engaged in other practices that have drawn consumer complaints.

This section offers news briefs related to brokers as of February 7, 2011, including one on the earnings report of Bank of America Corp., another on the role of the initial public offering of LPL Investment Holdings Inc. in promoting LPL Financial Corp. unit and another on advisers Christopher Cordaro of RegentAtlantic Capital LLC and Bonnie Hughes of American Capital Planning LLC.

The article reports that Bank of America (BofA) Corp. has recorded no daily net trading losses for the first quarter of 2010, and a BofA spokesman has confirmed that it is the first time that it happened since the bank acquired Merrill Lynch & Co. in the first quarter of 2009.

The article reports on the move of U.S. lawmakers to push through with their plan of implementing broad restrictions on fee policies at banks despite the move of the banking industry to remove restrictions on certain account fees. Some of the banks that will eliminate overdraft fees for customers include Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. Also mentioned is the plan of Representatives Barney Frank and Carolyn Maloney to request that Congress implement the rest of the provisions of the Credit Card Act to December 2009 from February 2010.

This article reports on the acquisition by Sallie Krawcheck, new head of Bank of America Corporation's (BofA) global wealth- and investment-management unit, of 63,000 shares of the Charlotte, North Carolina bank. Krawcheck bought the BofA shares for 15.97 U.S. dollars each. The acquisition occurred a few days after her appointment at BofA. Particular focus is given to Krawcheck's duties.

This article reports on the temporary restraining order won by Bank of America to freeze one billion U.S. dollars of Colonial BancGroup Inc. assets. According to U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan, the move was needed due to Colonial's near-collapse state. The lawsuit filed by Bank of America is aimed at protecting its claim on Colonial loans, In its complaint, Bank of America contends that the refusal of Colonial to turn over proceeds or underlying loans expose other entities to losses if Colonial is seized by banking regulators.

The article reports on the trend of raising fees charged to customers among banks in the U.S. According to Mike Moebs of Moebs Services Inc., all depositories aim to raise fees as the period of low fees has passed. It notes that such trend depicts how bank executives are pressured to turn in profits amidst bad loans to homeowners and businesses. Several increases in bank fees are cited which include that of the monthly maintenance fee for the MyAccess checking account of Bank of America Corp.

This article reports on the continuing support of the board of directors of the Bank of America Corp. to chief executive officer (CEO) Kenneth Lewis. The support continues despite outside pressure on the board to accelerate the search for potential successor to Lewis. The board has decided to separate the chairman and CEO positions on April 29, 2009. It is noted that corporate-governance experts have criticized the selection of Walter Massey, former college president, as chairman of the bank.

The article reports on the business performance of banks in the U.S. Bank of America Corp., for one, reported a $5.2 billion boost from trading in the first quarter of 2009 which helped it avoid losses on bad loans. Also, Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have all reported a total of $27.1 billion in combined trading revenue or profits also during the quarter.

This article details the takeover by Bank of America (BofA) of Merrill Lynch after 82% of its shareholders approved the $16.5 billion deal. In the final shareholder meeting of Merrill on December 5, 2008, the shareholders have agreed that there was no better deal than the one offered by BofA. Winthrop Smith, son of one of the founders of Merrill, said that the downfall of Merrill reflects unprincipled leadership and the failure of the board to understand what was happening to the company and its failure to act immediately.

The article reports on the decline of stocks in U.S. on August 13, 2008. Short seller Bank of America returned to business as its shares plunged 2.27 or 7.3 percent, to 28.86 and Fannie Mae falls 33 cent or 4.1 percent, to 7.69. Dow industrial's strongest gainer were aluminum producer Alcoa which rose 1.29 or 4.2 percent, to 32.35 and fertilizer maker Mosaic which rose 10.04 or 10 percent to 107.08. It is stated that energy and commodities stocks endure when oil prices rose 2.7 percent to $116 a barrel.

The article reports on the drop of U.S. stocks on October 7, 2008 which the author considers as the worst since a stock run in October 1987. It is reported that there have been rumors of re-capitalization of bigger financial institutions in the U.S. and Great Britain including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Popular hedge-fund holding companies also announced a fall in stock prices of Apple with 9.2 percent and Microsoft with 6.7 percent.

This article reports that Bank of America Corp. chairman and chief executive Kenneth Lewis has purchased additional shares of the bank's common stock on February 4, 2009 in a bid to convince employees, investors and the board that he and his management team can lead it out of its current crisis. The volatility of the bank's share price can be attributed to concerns over the extent of the U.S. government's involvement in the affairs of the bank, analysts say. Lewis describes the bank's performance in January 2009 as encouraging.