Hearings set on BofA-Countrywide deal

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve Board took the unusual step Thursday of scheduling public hearings to get comments on the pros and cons of Bank of America Corp.'s proposed $4-billion acquisition of mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp.The announcement comes amid high public sensitivities surrounding housing and mortgage markets and the effect that the merger might have on mortgage modifications, particularly in California.It comes the day after Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, invited regulators, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, as well as the chief executives of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bear Stearns Cos. to testify at a hearing next week about JPMorgan's bid to buy Bear Stearns, which kept the investment bank from entering bankruptcy.The Fed said it would extend a 90-day public comment period on the proposed BofA-Countrywide deal by nearly a month, until the close of business on April 29.A public hearing is scheduled April 22 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's headquarters, with hearings on April 28 and 29 at the Los Angeles Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.The Fed rarely holds public hearings on merger decisions, but it said the public hearings were intended to collect information relating to the factors the board is required to consider to determine whether the merger is acceptable under the Bank Holding Company Act.Some consumer groups have criticized BofA's response to the housing crisis, saying its balance sheet allowed it to do more for troubled borrowers.The acquisition of Calabasas-based Countrywide would hand BofA a bigger market share, creating a lender making one in four U.S. home loans and collecting payments on mortgages with a value of more than $1.9 trillion.