Bank of America is on track to raise more than $35bn of capital by the end of September, in a faster-than-expected move that would allow it to repay its government bail-out money early.

BofA's desire to repay its troubled assets relief programme funds as early as November will surprise the market. Most analysts expect BofA to be one of the last banks to do this, partly because of the large amount it has received – $45bn – and partly because it was found to have the biggest capital shortfall of any US bank in recent regulatory stress tests.

The US government will have the final say on whether and when banks that received Tarp funds will be allowed to repay it. The authorities have been concerned that the banks' eagerness to return the money and free themselves from the strict Congressional supervision imposed under the programme would prompt troubled lenders to repay funds before they were financially strong enough to do so.