The good news is that Bank of America's capital position is strong and the government is satisfied. The bad news is that it's still a ways away from paying back its $45 billion in TARP funds. TheStreet.com suggests that the bank will have to pay it back in small increments over time. Which unfortunately lumps it in with Citigroup and Wells Fargo, rather than with JPMorgan Chase. That's not an enviable position.

The issue may be that regulators are wary of the bank raising additional capital in ways other than good old fashioned earnings. Indeed, if Bank of America does need to boost capital levels further to repay the money, executives have said that "the preferred approach" would be "internal generation," rather than raising funds through preferred or common equity offerings. So we may have to wait until earnings growth once again becomes sustainable. That could take a while.

For more:
- here's the article

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