May 2 (Reuters) - warren Buffett and Charlie Munger spoke at Berkshire Hathaway Inc's annual meeting:
* Warren Buffett, on Bank of America Corp purchase of Merrill Lynch, says 'I could see why Hank (Paulson) and (Ben) Bernanke would want to put a lot of pressure' on B of A CEO 'not to have the thing blow up'
* Warren Buffett Says Bank of America CEO kenneth lewis was getting 'material facts' about Merrill's condition at the time
* Warren Buffett says had Bank of America backed out of Merrill merger, Merrill might have suffered the same fate as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc
* Charlie Munger says it is legitimate to criticize Bank of America's decision to buy mMrrill, but that 'given the pressures' in December, the bank and Treasury department 'behaved honorably and intelligently'
(New York Equities Desk; tel: +1 646 223 6000) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
* Warren Buffett, on Bank of America Corp purchase of Merrill Lynch, says 'I could see why Hank (Paulson) and (Ben) Bernanke would want to put a lot of pressure' on B of A CEO 'not to have the thing blow up'
* Warren Buffett Says Bank of America CEO kenneth lewis was getting 'material facts' about Merrill's condition at the time
* Warren Buffett says had Bank of America backed out of Merrill merger, Merrill might have suffered the same fate as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc
* Charlie Munger says it is legitimate to criticize Bank of America's decision to buy mMrrill, but that 'given the pressures' in December, the bank and Treasury department 'behaved honorably and intelligently'
(New York Equities Desk; tel: +1 646 223 6000) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.