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Bernanke defiant over BoA deal
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke last night denied that he had strongarmed Bank of America (BoA) into buying Merrill Lynch in a $50bn (£30.5bn) deal, in testimony before a congressional committee. BoA chief executive Kenneth Lewis has claimed that he was pressured into the deal by former Treasury secretary Hank Paulson, at Bernanke’s request. The Fed chairman rebuffed the charge, despite emails unearthed by the committee to the contrary.