BofA suspends buyback, div increase after capital miscalculation

Bank of America Corp said it would suspend its $4 billion stock buyback program and a planned increase in its quarterly dividend because it miscalculated the level of its capital after buying Merrill Lynch in 2009.

The restatement means that the bank holds less capital than previously estimated.

The bank, whose shares were down 4 percent before the start of trading on Monday, said it had been ordered by the Federal Reserve to suspend and resubmit its capital plans for 2014.

The Fed said Bank of America must address the errors in its regulatory capital calculations and ensure there were no further problems with its reporting. (http://link.reuters.com/zef88v)

Bank of America said the miscalculation was related to the treatment of structured notes after the purchase of Merrill Lynch at the height of the financial crisis.

The bank said it discovered the miscalculation after it released its first-quarter results on April 16. BofA is required to resubmit its capital plan within 30 days.

The reduction in regulatory capital and ratios will have no impact on the company's historical consolidated financial statements or shareholders' equity, BofA said.

Bank of America shares were trading at $15.31 before the opening bell.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian and Ted Kerr)