Bank of America Corp has raised nearly 26 billion dollars since the US government's stress test earlier this month, dpa quoted the company as saying in a statement today. The amount, which includes 5.9 billion dollars from the conversion of privately held preferred shares into common stock, puts the bank about 76 per cent on its way to meeting a government mandate that it raise more capital. The US Treasury department said in early May that Bank of America, the largest US bank, needed to raise 33.9 billion dollars in extra capital to survive another dip in the US economy. "We are quite pleased with the capital-raising effort and the progress toward completing the asset sales," Joe Price, the bank's chief financial officer, said. In early May, a government review of the health of the US financial industry found that 10 of the 19 largest US banks need a combined 75 billion dollars - including Bank of America's 33.9 billion dollars - to weather the continuing recession.
