Country Bank of Americawide -- URP!

Bank of America may end up swallowing Countrywide Financial Corp., assuming it can get around a rule limiting banks from controlling more than 10 percent of U.S. deposits.

The Wall Street Journal reports BofA is in "advanced talks" to acquire Countrywide. BofA provided Countrywide with a $2 billion cash infusion last summer, and now the company's market value is hardly more than that -- about $3 billion. At the time, Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo said he had no plans to sell the company to BofA, but since then the lender has reported a $1.2 billion third quarter loss and delinquencies and foreclosures in its $1.5 trillion servicing portfolio continue to rise.

After BofA bought Chicago-based LasSalle Bank for $21 billion last summer, it contolled 9.88 percent of U.S. bank deposits, the Journal reported. But BofA may be able to get around the 10 percent rule because it doesn't apply to federally chartered thrifts like the subsidiary Countrywide is now funding most of its loans through, Countrywide Bank.

Looks like BofA is hoping to do exactly what Mozilo had PLANNED on doing a year ago, when Countrywide went on a hiring spree even as housing markets had begun to cool  -- pick up market share as competitors fall by the wayside.

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