A Bank of America shareholder walks into the corporate headquarters prior to the start of the annual shareholders meeting in Charlotte
A Bank of America shareholder walks into the corporate headquarters prior to the start of the Bank of America annual shareholders meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina May 11, 2011. REUTERS

The Federal Reserve has asked Bank of America Corp. to show what measures it could take if business conditions worsen, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the situation.

BofA executives recently responded to the unusual request from the Federal Reserve with a list of options that includes the issuance of a separate class of shares tied to the performance of its Merrill Lynch securities unit, the people told the paper.

Bank of America and the Fed declined to comment to the Journal. Both could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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