A shareholder revolt cost Ken Lewis, Bank of America’s chief executive, his title as chairman of the board last week, but Wednesday’s news that BofA will probably need to raise $34bn in new capital could cost him the other part of his job.

For Mr Lewis, who has spent the last two months talking up the health of his bank, the need to raise capital not only presents a financial challenge but aggravates the shareholder anger that boiled over at last week’s annual meeting.