BofA spent $1.18M lobbying government in 4Q

Bank of America Corp., the nation's largest lender, spent $1.18 million in the fourth quarter to lobby the federal government on issues such as executive compensation, credit cards and mortgage lending practices, according to a recent disclosure report.

That's up from the $820,000 it spent in the 2008 fourth quarter at the height of the financial crisis, and the $930,000 it spent in the third quarter of 2009.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank has been under the government's watchful eye ever since it has received $45 billion from the $700 billion bank rescue program. Bank of America paid back the bailout funds to the Treasury Department in December.

Bank of America also lobbied on other issues during the quarter, including deposit insurance, student lending, credit default swaps, lending and credit market activities.

In the October-December period, the company lobbied Congress, the Treasury Department and the Federal Trade Commission, according to the report filed Jan. 20 with the House clerk's office. The Obama administration has proposed a series of measures to tighten the reins on financial institutions in hopes of preventing a recurrence of the crisis that struck both Wall Street and Washington in the fall of 2008.