John Paulson, who made billions of dollars with his hedge fund Paulson & Co. betting against subprime mortgages and shorting bank stocks during the past two years, has bought close to 2 per cent of Bank of America.

The price of BofA stock nearly doubled in the second quarter â?? when Mr Paulson purchased 168m shares â?? making the billionaire investorâ??s holding in the bank worth $2.2bn as of June 30, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday.

In after-hours trading â?? following the disclosure of Mr Paulsonâ??s purchase â?? BofA shares were up 3.3 per cent at $16.46. They closed at $15.93 on Wednesday.

Mr Paulson has also been accumulating shares of other financial stocks. In the second quarter, he bought 2m shares of Goldman Sachs and 7m shares of JPMorgan Chase, as well as 35m shares of Regions Financial, 17m shares of Capital One Financial, 12m of Marshall & Ilsley, 5m shares of Fifth Third, and smaller amounts of State Street and Suntrust. Mr Paulson was also part of the consortium of financiers who acquired IndyMac several months ago.