Bank of America, now one of the world’s largest wealth managers following its acquisition of Merrill Lynch this year, raised $13.5 billion in new equity over the past two weeks by selling 1.25 billion shares of stock, the company announced late yesterday.

The stock sale is part of BoA’s campaign to raise $33.9 billion in new capital, as mandated by the government’s “stress test” of soundness in the nation’s largest banks. When the results of the test were revealed on 7 May, BoA said it would raise $17 billion through the sale of new stock and the conversion of preferred stock held by institutional investors into common.

The US banking giant, like some of its peers, has been raising capital with the goal of reimbursing the US government and recovering its freedom of action as a private sector bank.

BoA said it would raise the remainder of the $33.9 billion through the sale of various assets and through earnings. Last week, the bank sold a portion of its stake in the China Construction Bank, netting $7.3 billion. BoA has until early November to achieve its target.