Bank of America shareholders take the unusual step of stripping CEO Kenneth Lewis of his chairman’s role, but there was little usual about his dealings with Merrill Lynch—except that they may portend the future of politicized banks | Jamie Dean
Associated Press/Photo by Paul Sancya
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Nearly three hours before embattled Bank of America (BofA) CEO Kenneth Lewis faced hundreds of anxious shareholders gathering to decide his fate at their annual meeting in downtown Charlotte, Judy Koenick wore her vote on a homemade T-shirt etched with large, black letters: "Fire!!! Kenneth Lewis."
Koenick, a shareholder from Chevy Chase, Md., paced on a sidewalk outside BofA headquarters, talking about the ire that caused her to travel to Charlotte for the April 29 meeting. Her anger hinged on two words: Merrill Lynch.
Indeed, much of BofA shareholders' exasperation with Lewis centered on the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch on Jan. 1. After learning in December that the troubled bank's fourth-quarter losses totaled a staggering $15.84 billion, Lewis did something that many shareholders couldn't forgive: He didn't tell them.
Out of tune
| Timothy Lamer
Last week's controversy over the government's plan to restructure Chrysler could be a textbook example of the truism that "he who pays the piper calls the tune." A look at some flows of money makes it easy to understand why the major groups involved—the Obama administration, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, such big banks as Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, and a group calling itself a committee of "non-TARP lenders" to Chrysler—acted the way they did.
The plan, engineered by the White House, sought to keep Chrysler out of bankruptcy by transferring the company's assets to the UAW, Fiat of Italy, and the U.S. and Canadian governments. In return, senior lenders to the company would receive $2.25 billion for the $6.9 billion they had loaned the automaker—meaning they would lose about 67 cents for each dollar loaned.
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COVER STORY |
Issue: 
No pious baloney
