The US government threw Bank of America a new $20 billion lifeline Friday. Bank of America, the largest US bank by assets, will get another $20 billion in fresh capital and a $118-billion asset guarantee to help it absorb broker Merrill Lynch, the US Treasury Department announced. The bank has already received $25 billion (19 billion euros) in capital injections from the $700 billion US financial bailout fund set up to rescue banks reeling from financial turmoil triggered by a home mortgage meltdown. That included $10 billion for the investment brokerage firm Merrill Lynch, which Bank of America bought in a deal that closed Jan. 1.
