Countrywide Financial, which is now owned by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), somehow managed to insinuate itself into nearly every housing related scandal of the current crisis.
Today's Wall Street Journalreports (subscription required) on some Countrywide loans made to senior executives at Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE). In 2003, when Jamie Gorelick was vice chairman of Fannie, she received a $960,000 refinancing through Countrywide's now infamous Friends of Angelo program, which offered special deals to people CEO Angelo Mozilo wished to curry favor with. While he was COO of Fannie, Daniel Mudd received two $3 milion refinancings through Countrywide, but it's not known whether he received special treatment. Not surprisingly, everyone denies knowledge of having received special treatment.
As corruption scandals go, this one seems pretty weak. If a 1% interest rate reduction on a mortgage refinancing was enough to buy Countrywide influence, then these multi-million dollar executives were pretty cheap.
The real corruption in the mortgage industry was the disconnect between compensation and the long-term results of the loans made. Executives were corrupted by their own poorly-aligned pay packages, not floral arrangements and discounts on loans.
In the days leading up to its acquisition by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) founder and chief value destroyer Angelo Mozilo is getting emotional. Business Week reports that the man whose tan makes George Hamilton look like Casper "choked up" at the company's annual meeting to approve the deal. In an emotional speech, Mozilo described his love of the organization he'd built and described his tears as a "drawback of being Italian."
Let's see: Mozilo sold hundreds of millions of dollar in stock at several times the current price, and will now walk away from battered shareholders with a bloated net worth resulting from horrific corporate governance, leaving Bank of America to deal with the shareholder lawsuits and attorneys general investigations into the company's practices.
Remember Tammy Faye's tearful interviews after her televangelist collapsed amid revelations of extramarital affairs and air-conditioned doghouses? It might not be quite as pathetic, but Mozilo is one of the few people who can give the late Ms. Faye a run for her money in the unsympathetic display of emotion department.
I somehow doubt that shareholders were moved by Mozilo's speech, which was delivered in a shareholder meeting free of a question and answer session, marked by an overwhelming security presence reflecting the number of people who hate Mr. Mozilo.
Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide (NYSE: CFC) may be a thug and he may get in trouble with federal authorities due to the way he ran his company. But at least he was generous.
According to The Wall Street Journal, everyone from casino employees to retired pro athletes got sweet deals. The paper writes that, Mr. Mozilo regularly lined up loans for people he met, according to several current and former Countrywide executives. Said one: "Angelo would call in and say, literally, 'My maid needs a loan.'"
Mozilo even gave a loan to the buyer of hockey player Wayne Gretsky's home.
The big open question about these mortgages is whether the people could have gotten them in the normal course of business, or was Mozilo's help necessary. He also may have made certain that his pals got below market rates.
Based on most of what has come out about Mozilo's behavior, he should probably give back those tens of millions of dollars in cash he got from stock options.
And perhaps, spend a few years in the pen.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
Angelo Mozilo's nine lives may be about to run out. So far the CEO of Countrywide (NYSE:CFC) has avoided the most severe taint from the collapse of his mortgage company and its questionable practices.
The State of Illinois, the land of Lincoln, will bring civil charges against Mozilo and the firm he started. According toThe Wall Street Journal, In a draft of the complaint, Illinois alleges that the company engaged in "unfair and deceptive practices" in the sale of mortgage loans.
One of the main pieces of the complaint is that mortgage brokers pushed loans on people, even it they could not afford them.
Of course, as is always true with charges bought by attorneys general, there is some politics behind the claim. There have been a number of Countrywide foreclosures in the Illinois.
To some extent the politics do not matter. Based on other investigations of Countrywide, it appears that management did quietly push its people to move loans out like cars off an assembly line.
What is most troubling is that no one in government anywhere caught onto the practice earlier.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
Not only is Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) CEO Angelo Mozilo horrifically bad at creating (or even retaining) value for shareholders, but he's also not so good at managing email.
A Countrywide customer emailed Mozilo asking the company to modify the terms on his adjustable rate mortgage. The email was sent to 16 Countrywide employees, a common practice in the current market environment.
Annoyed by the email, Mozilo did his best Marie Antoinette impersonation:
"This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the Internet. Disgusting."
Corporate Library reports that 20% of CEOs receive tax gross-ups -- reimbursement for most of the taxes due on their perks. Specifically, 650 CEOs received tax gross-ups for perquisites such as housing, gifts, security, country club fees, executive retreats, and even PS3s. While most of the tax gross-ups were related to perks, 30 CEOs had income tax grossed up on restricted stock awards and/or bonuses.
These tax gross-ups gross me out. Not only are CEOs among the highest paid and most pampered members of our society, but their employers are paying their taxes for them. I had more of a gut reaction to this report than Corporate Library's Paul Hodgson who said, "The sight of Angelo Mozilo [CEO of troubled Countrywide Financial (NYSE:CFC)] defending his request to the board to have the income tax due when his wife traveled for free on the corporate jet paid by the shareholders gave me pause for thought."
This thought led to Hodgson's more detailed study. One man's pause for thought is another man's puke. How do you feel about it?
As chairman and CEO of Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC), Angelo Mozilo refused to take pay cuts, according to a report by a House committee, and reported by the Wall Street Journal. The focus of a meeting today with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on executive compensation at companies involved in the subprime fiasco will be on Mozilo, who was paid about $250M between 1998 and 2007, plus $406M from his sale of Countrywide shares.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) is looking to sell crystal business Steuben Glass, a unit that has lost $30M over the last five years. If Corning cannot find a buyer for the unit, executives said they will consider other options, including closing Steuben.
OTHER PAPERS:
After failing to meet repayment requests, the UK Times reported that Carlyle Capital Corp Limited (OTC: CARYF), the Dutch-listed affiliate of U.S. private-equity firm Carlyle Group, held emergency restructuring talks with its banks Thursday evening. CCC disclosed that it had received one default notice after receiving margin calls for over $37M from banks since Wednesday but was "unable to meet the demands" of several. The firm expects "at least one" more default notice.
WEB SITES:
Despite shedding several units, Vikram Pandit, Citigroup Incorporated's (NYSE: C) CEO, denied rumors that the bank could put its unit in South Korea up for sale. According to sources, Pandit, currently reviewing operations in an effort to boost earnings and cut costs, said "absolutely no" when directly asked about a divestiture, Reuters reported.
Mozilo, who is CEO of troubled lender Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC), is eligible to receive stock awards valued at $10 million this April. The awards consist of performance-based restricted stock units and stock-appreciation right and will vest upon the consummation of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)'s acquisition of the company.
The fact that Mozilo sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stock at prices 5 times the current price raises questions about whether he really need to be compensated further.
But that's not the worst of it. Chief Operating Officer David Sambol could receive a $1.9 million retention bonus upon completion of the merger.
The purpose of a retention payment is to keep an executive from jumping ship to another more lucrative opportunity. But I've got to ask: Given that Countrywide is the poster child for idiotic lending, bad management, and poor corporate governance, is Mr. Sambol really that in demand that a $1.9 million retention payment is necessary. Or is this just more of the "loot the company while you still can!" stuff that has come to characterize the descent of Countrywide?
Angelo Mozilo, perhaps the most hated business executive in America, will give up $37.5 million that he earned as CEO of Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC). The move is probably related to pressure from politicians who feel that his pay was outrageous given the company's fortunes and those of many of its customers.
"I believe this decision is the right thing to do as Countrywide works toward the successful completion of the merger with Bank of America," Mr. Mozilo said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Mozilo did earn the money. It was part of a compensation package put together by the compensation committee of his board. The fact that he is willing to pass on accepting the money does not mean much.
The concerns voiced by the media and government when they look at Mr. Mozilo's pay and sales of stock in Countrywide should focus on why the board of the company did not address these issues when they were happening. His gesture to give up part of his pay package when he gained hundreds of millions of dollars in earlier years means very little.
It will not get all of those people who lost their homes any comfort.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
With Congress already planning hearings on the grotesquely excessive pay packages handed to executives who lost massive amounts of money on bad subprime loans, Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has jumped on the Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) CEO Angelo Mozilo bashing bandwagon.
Senator Clinton called Mozilo's pay package "outrageous", adding that Mozilo is "one of the principal architects of this whole house of cards, with these exotic subprime mortgage vehicles ... Executives of a lot of these companies that participated in creating this very difficult set of problems we're trying to work our way out of should not be rewarded ... as they walk away,"
In addition, Congressman Barney Frank and other have called on Mr. Mozilo to donate a portion of his generous severance package to aid subprime borrowers facing foreclosure.
Yesterday, I wrote about the need for a Congressional inquiry into the pay package given to Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) CEO Angelo Mozilo:
The people getting royally screwed over by Mozilo's pay package are the company's shareholders. Compensation committee members Harley Snyder, Robert Donato, and Oscar Robertson should be hauled before Congressional hearings to explain this abject failure of corporate governance. It would be a much better use of taxpayer resources than holding hearings on what Roger Clemens did or didn't inject into his buttocks.
Well, now it looks like we're going to get those congressional hearings. A Congressional panel invited Angelo Mozilo, Charles Prince and Stan O'Neal in to answer question on February 7th. Congressman Henry Waxman said the inquiry was part of an "ongoing investigation into executive pay."
Unfortunately, these hearings don't go far enough. The people that need to be called in are the dormant compensation committee members who signed off on this garbage, and the institutional (especially pension fund) money managers who have allowed these clowns to remain on the company's board.
All Mozilo et al. need to say is "We were given these packages by our board" and that'll be that. This is a corporate governance, and the people responsible for the systematic breakdown of corporate governance in America need to be called to answer for this failures.
Forget the shareholders, I say more power to these CEOs! That's right, quit your whining and accept it -- Wall Street is all about taking as much as you can, there's no compassion involved and anybody who thinks differently is in for a big surprise.
Maybe you should be congratulating these executives on their ability to get to the top and get paid for their efforts. So what if their stocks drop and all their plans go up in flames -- why shouldn't they be compensated for all their hard work and the sacrifices they've made over the years? Over the past two decades, you lazy buy-and-hold shareholders have been spoiled with excess returns, and now that you're losing, you're angry that not everyone is down in the pits with you.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) may have scored a shot at big tax savings with its acquisition of Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC), but it may also have acquired a liability to go along with it.
Like a lot of other subprime lenders, Countrywide's business practices are under a lot of scrutiny of late. A piece (subscription required) in today's Wall Street Journal looks at details of some of Countrywide's practices that have emerged during the bankruptcy proceedings of debtors.
There could be some liability there. There's also an SEC investigation of the perennially uber-tan Angelo Mozilo's stock sales, and shareholder lawsuits accusing the company of violating securities laws. State attorneys general are also taking a look at the company.
Of course Bank of America made efforts to estimate the extent of the possible liability before doing the deal. And the hundreds of millions Bank of America will save on its taxes because of the deal should offset the cost of any settlements with those pesky regulators. Uncle Sam giveth, Uncle Sam taketh away, but if you're Angelo Mozilo, he mostly giveth.
It seems every time Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) CEO Angelo Mozilo goes out in public, the first thing he says is that his company won't go bankrupt. He said it again late yesterday on CNBC. According to Reuters he stated, "Bankruptcy is an issue that nobody can ever eliminate, although I don't think it's possible or probable for Countrywide."
The market does not take Mr. Mozilo at his word. The company's stock is off to $10.68 from a 52-week high of $45.26. But more important, over the last month, Countrywide is off almost 30% while Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) is down only 15%. The market clearly sees much more risk in CFC.
The Treasury's new plan to fix mortgage rates on subprime loans may actually hurt Countrywide. Many loans would have reset higher in the next year, bringing in a better yield on those for the big mortgage company. It now appears that the extra income won't be coming. The government plan may lower foreclosures, but it may not be enough to offset the lower revenue from loans that won't reset at higher rates.
Countrywide is still not out of the woods, no matter what its CEO says.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
Another day, another bad headline for Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC). The New York Timesis reporting that Countrywide has received a federal subpoena related to possible abuses of bankruptcy laws in Florida.
One of the issues relates to excessive and unwarranted fees that some say Countrywide is charging troubled homeowners. As I blogged earlier this month, one recent study found that roughly half of mortgages going through Chapter 13 bankruptcy contained questionable fees.
Countrywide Financial may have accomplished something pretty unique: exploiting its customers and behaving in an ethically questionable manner while also losing money hand over fist for its shareholders.
It's kind of like a baseball player using steroids and hitting .220 with 3 home runs.
Either way, CEO Angelo Mozilo's tan still looks fabulous.
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