Part 5/8:
Adding to the challenge, the capital requirements imposed by regulators after the crisis mandated that large, systemically important banks like Bank of America retain more equity relative to their assets. While other banks made minor adjustments to leverage ratios, Bank of America faced a significant reduction, moving from $9.8 worth of assets for every $1 of equity to $7.8. This difference not only hampered their financial agility but complicated the overall integration of Merrill Lynch’s operations.