A．Bank of America announced that it was ready to repay the $ 45 billion it received in government bail-out money, which will finance by selling $ 18. 8 billion in securities and tapping $ 26.2 billion of "excess liquidity". The bank had to demonstrate to the Treasury that it was stable enough to obtain investment through the markets. By exiting the Troubled Asset Relief Programme, BofA will be free of many of the restrictions imposed on it, including on executive pay, which is said to be hampering the bank from appointing a successor to the outgoing chief executive, Kenneth Lewis.B．The Bank of Japan held an emergency meeting following pressure from the government to take steps to counter deflation and the strengthening yen; the currency recently hit a 14-year high against the dollar. The central bank announced a ￥10 trillion ($115 billion) programme of new lending in three-month funds at a rate of 0.1% , which as officials said was similar to the quantitative-easing measures it employed earlier this decade to fight deflation. But the sum fell short of market expectations.C．Directors at the Royal Bank of Scotland threatened to resign if the British Treasury prevented them from paying ￡1.5 billion ($ 2.5 billion) in bonuses at its investment-banking unit. Some British bankers have stepped up their criticism of what they say is overbearing government influence in matters of pay and compensation.D．Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, revealed how close Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS came to collapse in October 2008. After Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, both banks had trouble raising funds in the markets and turned to the central bank, which lent them ￡ 62 billion ( $103 billion) in emergency aid. Mr. King revealed the details of the rescue now because both companies are considered to be stable. In 2007, news that Northern Rock received loans from the state led to a run on the bank.E．The European Central Bank said it would tighten its rating standards for the asset-backed securities that euro-area banks use as collateral when seeking liquidity from the central bank. The move forms part of the ECB’s plan gradually to withdraw the emergency measures it introduced during the financial crisis. The government tried to restrict this bank’s attempt to award its staff.（）