Bank of America to Buy Countrywide Financial

Bank of America said it will buy Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion in stock, a deal that rescues the country's largest mortgage lender and expands the financial services empire of the nation's largest consumer bank. The acquisition will make Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. the nation's biggest mortgage lender and loan servicer. Bank of America said it initially plans to operate Countrywide separately under the Countrywide brand, with integration occurring no sooner than 2009.