"This course made sense for Bank of America and its shareholders, and made sense for the stability of the markets," he said. "We viewed those two interests as consistent." Just a few weeks after the deal was completed, Bank of America's fourth-quarter earnings report showed the hit taken by its balance sheet because of the Merrill Lynch transaction, which made Lewis the target of shareholder anger. In January, Bank of America reported a $US2.39 billion ($A2.98 billion) fourth-quarter loss, and Merrill Lynch disclosed a loss of more than $US15 billion ($A18.7 billion).