Wednesday's Headlines: BofA

(At 7:29 a.m. EDT)

Wednesday's Early Headlines

BofA Raises $13.47 Billion In Secondary. Bank of America (BAC) said it has issued 1.25 billion shares at an average price of $10.77 a share, helping the bank raise $13.47 billion. Together with the sale of its stake in China Construction Bank for about $7.3 billion, BofA is more than halfway to reaching its capital raising goal of $33.9 billion set by the government's stress tests.

Regions Financial Plans Public Offering. Regions Financial (RF), meanwhile, said it plans to raise $1.25 billion in capital to help meet a $2.5 billion government requirement to buffer itself against future losses.

U.S. May Add Financial Watchdog. The Washington Post is reporting that the Obama administration is in discussions to create a regulatory commission that would have broad authority to protect consumers who use financial products as varied as mortgages, credit cards and mutual funds, one of the administration's most significant steps to overhaul regulation of the financial sector. The report cited several sources familiar with the matter.

SEC Could Lose Regulatory Power Under Plan. Bloomberg reported that the financial watchdog plan mentioned above could strip the Securities and Exchange Commission of some of its powers by giving the Federal Reserve more authority to supervise financial firms deemed too big to fail. The plan could be unveiled as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Japan Economy Shrinks Record 15.2%. Japan said its gross domestic product fell a record 15.2% in the first quarter, following a revised fourth- quarter drop of 14.4%. The sharp decline came as exports collapsed and consumers and businesses slashed spending.

Three Suitors for GM's Opel Unit. General Motors (GM) is expected to see at least three bids from suitors interested in acquiring or taking a stake in the ailing Adam Opel GmbH, a GM Europe spokesman said. The Financial Times said those three names were likely RHJ International, Italy's Fiat, and Canada's Magna (MGA).