Bank of America chief Ken Lewis to resign
Filed under: Bank of America
Bank of America (BAC) president and chief executive Ken Lewis will resign by the end of the year, the Charlotte, N.C., banking giant announced after stock markets closed Wednesday.Lewis, whose company is under investigation by regulators, was not asked to resign from his posts and the decision was not related to the scrutiny the company has received regarding its hasty purchase last year of Merrill Lynch, CNBC reported. In addition to Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission, BofA has also come under the scrutiny of Andrew Cuomo, New York state's attorney general.
Lewis has been accused of of misleading investors about bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch officials prior to BofA's purchase of the floundering investment bank late last year.
Lewis, 62, notified the company's board of directors of his decision Wednesday. He will also surrender his position on the company's board of directors. Lewis was stripped of his chairman title in April after a shareholder vote. Lewis' successor has not been named but the company said it expects to do so by the time he departs.
Bank of America received $45 billion as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the government funded plan put in place to keep the nation's banks from falling into insolvency.
In July, BofA reported second-quarter income fell 5.5 percent on charges related to its acquisitions and on continuing credit problems. The results, nonetheless, were better than analysts had expected.
In after hours trading, BofA shares rose nearly two percent to $17.24. The stock has lost half its value in the past year.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-30-2009 @ 6:47PM
Lewis said...
Good, get rid of him, still will not change that BANK OF AMERICA is no way AMERICAN in the way they do business by ripping off true AMERICANS and capitalizing on peoples hardships when they too had to get a bailout from their hardship that they help cause, But yet they do not help their customers that having problems also, they say they help but what? 20 out of thousands of customers.....their day is coming and as far as lewis choke on his money, I curse all of them for their UNAMERICAN WAYS....bank of MEXICO can burn in HELL
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9-30-2009 @ 7:14PM
wowyouranid10t said...
your an idiot ...
dont be mad at a bank because you sail to struggle with your own finances. while they are not the best, i have found there to be some good people in my lcoal branch and call centers, rememebr i said some not all.
10-01-2009 @ 8:12AM
Jim said...
Ken Lewis was railroaded by the federal government and he was the best thing to happen to BofA.. Merrill Lynch was crammed down his throat by Paulson and now look what he gets....sued by the Ohio AG. BofA has also saved many who used Countrywide as their mortgage broker by doing workouts after he bought Countrywide. We all say, poor customer, poor customer. Heck most knew they were over leveraging their home loans and deserve to take the heat.
9-30-2009 @ 7:22PM
CHABSENTIA said...
Most people seem to be upset with Bank of America here but I have a problem either because they are clueless or have an Agenda. People went Nuts over the 165 Million in Bonuses given to AIG Executives and even picketed in front of their Homes and there was supposed to be Death threats etc. Bank of America takes over Merrill Lynch who has lost Billion of Dollars and allows Merrill Lynch to give 3.6 Billion Dollars in Bonuses to its Executives and gets 45 Billion in taxpayer Money and not a peep. Congress keeps quiet about it and then the SEC fines Bank of America a lousy 33 Million and still not a peep. I guess 165 Million is not alright but 3.6 Billion is alright. Where is the outrage on the 3.6 Billion after giving 45 Billion in Tax payer money? I guess this proves that unless the Main stream media or David Letterman tell you about it then you people are clueless.
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9-30-2009 @ 7:27PM
John said...
Ken Lewis was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hope he writes a book, which I will buy. The Countrywide deal was buying something on sale. The ML deal was shoved up his butt. Brokers are nothing but theives in suits. He never should have consummated the deal, but was stuck by Paulson. No human being in his right mind would have bougth ML if they knew the truth. Then Mr. A-hole extrodainaire (John Thain) did an end-around and made Lewis look like a stupe. Ken Lewis desreves respect - not distain.
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10-01-2009 @ 5:51AM
Tom said...
Try thinking a little harder about sucking Ken's dick. He was targeted by FED to take ML strictly BECAUSE BOFA WAS IN SUCH DIRE SUBPRIME STRAIGHTS to begin with. Had they been a bit less greedy in the housing and building sector THEYD have been less a target. In other words, they were about ready to fall apart WITHOUT FED dollars. Taking on ML ASSURED THEM A FULL TICKET survival. Dunce.
9-30-2009 @ 7:35PM
ga7smi said...
why is he not in prison?
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10-01-2009 @ 7:21AM
S Carson said...
Good Riddance and he can take his Merrill Lynch crooks with him.
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9-30-2009 @ 7:50PM
Sid Cohn said...
Does the government have any regulation of his retirement bonus? It seems they should have since they gave B of A a bunch of stimulus money and he obviously made some bad decisions (Merrill Lynch and Countrywide) which cost the owners (stockholders) a bundle in lost stock prices. John (above comment) seems to know a lot more about those deals than I, but on the face of it Lewis should be penalized on the way out.
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9-30-2009 @ 8:01PM
Hoxsie454 said...
Lewis has been with the bank and its predecessors since he was 22 years old so it is time he stepped out of the scene.
NOW is the time for the Congress to seriously consider the advisability of breaking BAC up into at least three pieces, if not more.
Any company that is too big to fail, is too big to manage, and if it is too big to manage, we will absolutely experience more and greater economic problems in the future.
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9-30-2009 @ 8:05PM
Izzy Stradlin said...
Quick! somebody slap the hand-cuffs on his azz before he flees to the south of France with your tax dollars!
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10-02-2009 @ 9:05PM
Jeff said...
F him and F Bank of America
They take taxpayer $
they screw customers who are current on their credit cards
they don't loan $
they foreclose on families
and when they relist the foreclosures, they ask outrageous prices so they never sell, i guess so they can go to DC and poor mouth congress for more taxpayer $
dont forget Bank of AMERICA doesnt want the AMERICAN FLAG flying on their property
F him and F Bank of America
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9-30-2009 @ 9:33PM
James said...
Personally I don't like banks and that goes for all of them, if you are fortunate enough try for a membership in a good credit union. I quit the banks many years ago the stock holders are all greedy.
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9-30-2009 @ 8:34PM
paulster said...
AAAARRRRRRR ME MATEY BURN HIM AT THEE STAKE!!!!!!!!!!!................
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9-30-2009 @ 8:38PM
Bob said...
I'd be suing the federal government if were him. Everything he is being investigated for was forced on him to begin with. If they weren't forced to buy Merrill, none of this would be happening. Most of the people who responded to this are idiots!
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9-30-2009 @ 8:39PM
Bob Uhler said...
He might be the first guy in history to laugh all the way FROM the bank. I remember in the movie Miracle on 43th Street where Macy and Gimbel were portrayed as businessmen who actually cared what people thought of them. CEOs make way too much money nowadays to lose any sleep over the public's perception. I include both the theives and serial adulterers like Welch, Koslowski, Perleman, Rigas, Trump, and others. Fitzgerald was right, the rich aren't like us.
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9-30-2009 @ 9:48PM
Allen said...
Its not over for BofA by a long shot........ You are going to see more heads roll, and more class action suits against them. It's only the beginning.
I suggest you read the headlines on www.Law360.com on all three of the big three. You can get a pretty good idea of their behavior with out joining the site from the headlines.
As the old saying goes "it's not over until it's over."
WaMu will have it's day in court with Chase as well. Now there's a real group of sharks.
Citi Bank prob history matter of time.
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9-30-2009 @ 9:14PM
Henry Hull said...
STEP DOWN? PLEASE.....THESE LOUTS SHOULD BE SENTENCED....NOT STEP DOWN!!!! BUT DONT WORRY, IF YOU DONT AGREE TODAY...IN A YEAR YOU WILL CERTAINLY SEE THE VALIDITY OF MY POINT, TWO YEARS FROM NOW YOU WILL REALIZE THAT WE SHOULD HAVE TRIED AND HAD THEM ALL CONVICTED OF HIGH CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY...BELIEVE ME...TIME IS ON MY SIDE IN THIS ARGUMENT...THE REALITY OF THIS FIASCO IS ONLY NOW BEGINNING TO DAWN ON YOU...I AM SURE....JUST WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR...AND THE YEAR AFTER, AND THE YEAR AFTER THAT....AND AFTER THAT...YOU JUST WAIT AND SEE IF YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR HILLARY WHO WANTED TO BUST THEM ALL AFTER ALL......YOU JUST WAIT ANOTHER YEAR AND SEE HOW YOU FEEL THEN.....HOW MUCH IS MR LEWIS "STEPPING DOWN" WITH? I CAN BET HE'LL BE JUST FINE...I DONT THINK THE SAME WILL APPLY TO YOU.
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9-30-2009 @ 9:38PM
Joan said...
About Time, Now maybe the stock will improve some. Also, my son's BofA credit card increased to 27%. That's a crime. Any bank is better.
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10-01-2009 @ 5:56AM
Rane said...
I wouldn't bank at Bank of America if someone paid me to do so. They rip off people constantly, their customer service stinks, and they're a disservice to the very name "America." Wish they'd go out of business.
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