merrill lynch posts
FeedPosted Oct 5th 2009 10:00AM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Management, Bank of America (BAC)
According to a Wall Street Journal report (subscription required) on Monday, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is set to choose an emergency chief executive officer (CEO) -- just in case Ken Lewis (the current CEO) is forced to step down thanks to legal issues. The decision was in the works before Lewis announced he would retire effective New Year's Eve, but the situation ramped up after New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo hinted that he may file civil charges against Lewis.
Five people comprise the committee that was formed earlier this year, with Bank of America Chairman Walter Massey leading the way. The committee was originally created to respond to concerns raised by U.S. banking regulators, but it has now shifted its focus a bit. The committee will give the choice to the full board for approval, but then the U.S. banking regulators will have to approve the choice, basically allowing the government to hand pick their choice. Once this process runs its course, the plan will then be shuttered until it is needed.
Continue reading Bank of America choosing an 'emergency' chief executive, just in case
Posted Sep 14th 2009 5:00PM by Mark Fightmaster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bank of America (BAC), Financial Crisis

Let's dive into the world of breaking news here, as the New York Attorney General's office has decided to mark the one-year anniversary of the financial meltdown by
preparing charges against some
Bank of America (NYSE:
BAC) executives. Reportedly, the charges stem from the failure to disclose details about the company's acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
The Attorney General (Andrew Cuomo) is likely to file charges against the executives because of their failure to alert shareholders to mounting losses and accelerated bonus payments at Merrill. Earlier, a federal district judge rejected a $33-million settlement between BAC and the SEC over the same executive bonuses. This settlement was in relation to the fact that BAC did not inform shareholders of an agreement to pay Merrill Lynch execs billions of dollars worth of bonuses, the deal was struck before BAC acquired Merrill.
Continue reading Bank of America execs facing charges
Posted Apr 23rd 2009 11:00AM by Elizabeth Harrow (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bank of America (BAC), DJIA, Federal Reserve, Financial Crisis
An outspoken group of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) shareholders has been calling for CEO Kenneth Lewis's head lately, with investors none too pleased by the bank's near-disastrous acquisition of Merrill Lynch. However, testimony is hitting Wall Street today that indicates Lewis was simply following government orders by keeping hefty losses at Merrill under wraps.
Lewis testified under oath before New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in February, asserting "it wasn't up to me" to disclose Merrill's fourth-quarter losses toward the end of 2008.
According to Lewis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pressured him to stay mum about Merrill Lynch's troublesome balance sheet. The regulators reportedly urged Lewis to proceed with the merger, warning that the deal's failure would "impose a big risk" to the nation's financial system.
Continue reading Was Bank of America's CEO intimidated by the feds?
Posted Mar 7th 2009 2:42PM by Peter Cohan (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS)
Do you feel good about $173 billion of your tax money helping to keep American International Group (NYSE: AIG) from going bust? If you made the decisions that put AIG at death's door you might be. But the odds are pretty good that you had absolutely nothing to do with AIG's failure and received not a penny of compensation during the time when its executives were reporting profits -- and getting millions in compensation that they're not paying back now that it's losing money.
That's one of the reasons why I was arguing on KCRW's To the Point that the U.S. ought to disclose who is getting the taxpayer money that goes to AIG. After all, they just got another $30 billion this week after reporting history's biggest quarterly loss of $61 billion. A professor on the program suggested that we should not disclose the names of the recipients because it would threaten the stability of the financial system. I thought this professor's argument was unpersuasive -- and now we'll get a chance to see who was right.
Continue reading How much of AIG's $173 billion bailout went to European banks?
Posted Feb 2nd 2009 12:30PM by Elizabeth Harrow (RSS feed)
Filed under: Bad news, Management, Bank of America (BAC), Options, DJIA, Financial Crisis
A report today in the New York Post suggests that shareholders are anxious to oust Kenneth Lewis, CEO of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC). The paper says that a group of angry investors, spearheaded by Jerry Finger, has compiled a list of demands to present at the bank's next annual meeting. Finger and his irate mob will request that the roles of CEO and chairman be split, and the outspoken investor said it's safe to assume that a brand-new chief executive is also high on his wish list.
Finger made headlines last month by filing a class-action lawsuit against B of A, alleging that its merger with Merrill Lynch failed to protect shareholders' interests. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is now investigating that very same matter, and reports say that the AG may demand the return of $4 billion in bonuses to Merrill employees that were rushed through prior to the merger's completion.
Continue reading Will Bank of America shareholders show CEO Kenneth Lewis the door?
Posted Jan 30th 2009 4:40PM by Bruce Watson (RSS feed)
Filed under: Rants and raves, Financial Crisis

In
Gone with the Wind, Rhett Butler wryly notes that there is "just as much money to be made out of the wreckage of a civilization as from the upbuilding of one." Having observed the near-Roman excesses of New York's money men over the past couple of years, I might go even further and argue that the end of a civilization tends to be even more outrageously profligate than its beginning. After all, it's hard to imagine stern, conservative men like J.P. Morgan and Andrew Mellon giving in to the incredible excesses of the latest round of would-be magnates.
While tales like Stephen Schwarzman's million dollar
birthday and Dick Fuld's five
homes tend to capture the public's attention, these outrageous expenditures are only the tip of the iceberg. From $175
hamburgers at the Wall Street Burger Shoppe to John Thain's $1.22 million office
redecoration, it has become increasingly clear that New York's financial workers have spent the last few years living in a completely alien world. What's more, they are either unable or unwilling to adapt to the changing realities of America's economy.
Continue reading Wall Street, 2009: Deaf, blind, and just plain dumb
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