[quote=davelj][quote=flu]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional investigators say they have seen internal documents that prove the Federal Reserve threatened to force the ouster of Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis if he didn’t follow through with plans to buy Merrill Lynch & Co.
[/quote]
While I don’t support the Federal Reserve threatening bank CEOs as these emails imply… all Ken Lewis had to do was say, “No. I don’t like the deal. Fire me.”
But, alas, he apparently was more concerned about losing his job than about protecting shareholder interests. In my view, for this reason alone he should be fired. How, after all, did he manage to put the bank into a position where the Fed could strong arm him? That’s HIS (and the directors’) fault.
Here’s the bottom line, folks – and something that most bankers forget: When you accept FDIC insurance, as all banks do, the US Government is a major partner in your enterprise. If you’re uncomfortable with that, you need to find another line of work.
Ken Lewis put both his bank and his career into perilous positions in which he was susceptible to strong-arm tactics on behalf of one of his business partners (The Fed). And instead of falling on his sword, he chose to follow the keep-my-job-at-all-costs route and screw his shareholders.
Again, I’m not crazy about the Fed’s tactics in this case. But the REAL villain in this situation isn’t the Fed – it’s just a not-for-profit partner in BofA. The real villain is Ken Lewis.[/quote]
Finally, this asshole is leaving. I can guarantee you it wasn’t by choice.
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Bank of America CEO Lewis leaving by year’s end
NEW YORK – Ken Lewis, the embattled CEO of Bank of America Corp., is leaving the company, succumbing to nearly a year of strife that followed his company’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.
The bank said in a statement late Wednesday that Lewis, 62, would retire as CEO and also leave the company’s board by the end of the year. The company said his successor will be selected by the time he steps down Dec. 31.
The news, coming after shareholders had stripped Lewis of his chairman’s title earlier this year, wasn’t surprising because of the heavy pressure he came under after the Merrill deal. Lewis had said he would stay on as CEO until after the company’s financial problems were resolved, a process expected to take several years.
However, with the bank also under heavy criticism from government officials, Lewis was increasingly seen as vulnerable.
Since the Merrill deal closed Jan. 1, it was learned that the investment bank with the knowledge of Bank of America executives, gave billions of dollars in bonuses to employees even as it asked for more bailout money from the government. The deal was forged a year ago at the height of the financial crisis.
