This is the second massive injection of government cash for America's largest bank. It signifies that the crisis facing the world's leading financial institutions is far from over.
Bank of America needs the extra money to deal with unexpectedly severe debt problems at the investment group Merrill Lynch which it bought last September.
Meanwhile, in a further sign of the times, Citigroup, another US banking giant, has reported a thumping $8bn loss - worse than expected - for the final part of last year.
