Bank of America to raise capital?

Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the largest U.S. bank, needs to raise $36.6 billion in equity to bring capital ratios in line with its peers, according to Oppenheimer & Co.

With investors reluctant to commit new funds to lenders, Bank of America is more likely to raise capital by converting preferred stock to common, or issuing 5.2 billion shares through the Treasury Department’s Capital Assistance Plan, analyst Chris Kotowski wrote in a report to clients on Wednesday. Under the Treasury program, Bank of America may issue shares for $6.24 each, the report said.

Bank of America has already accepted two rounds of taxpayer support totaling $163 billion that included preferred stock purchases and asset guarantees. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis has said the company will rebound from a fourth-quarter loss without more government assistance.

“It is perhaps unusual to model highly dilutive equity raises into earnings forecasts, but we believe that in the current environment, until credit quality stabilizes and capital requirements are more precisely known, it is the prudent thing to do,” Kotowski wrote.

“We disagree with his assumption,” said Scott Silvestri, a spokesman at Bank of America.