Bank of America
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Citi's Pandit is the Right Man For the Job – at Bank of America
Bank of America Corp.'s (NYSE: BAC) search for a new boss to succeed the deposed Kenneth D. Lewis had ground to a complete halt. Nobody was willing to take the job for the compensation the Obama administration's "Pay Czar" was willing to authorize.
Now Bank of America is repaying its Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds in order to get out from under the pay czar's tyranny, in the hope the big bank can attract a worthy chief executive officer. That's a good strategy, and it just might help BofA attract the most obvious candidate of all: Vikram S. Pandit, the embattled (and $1-a year) CEO of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C).
Pandit got the Citigroup job after 11 years at Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and founding the Old Lane hedge fund, which Citi bought for $800 million - only to shut down less than a year later. -
Bank of America Hopes to Lure Top Shelf Talent by Paying Back TARP Loans
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), the nation's biggest lender, reached an agreement to repay $45 billion of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout funds, removing government imposed restrictions on executive pay that have hindered its search for a new CEO.
The Charlotte, N.C., bank will become the first bank to return a large, or "exceptional," taxpayer-funded bailout. Bank of America initially received $25 billion of TARP funding in October 2008 as government officials raced to stabilize the U.S. financial system. The government injected the bank with an additional $20 billion in January to mitigate losses associated with its takeover of securities firm Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER).
The bank will use $26.2 billion of “excess liquidity” and $18.8 billion from the sale of securities to repay the TARP funds according to a statement issued late Wednesday.
The repayment will clear the way for the bank to intensify its efforts to replace Chief Executive Officer Kenneth D. Lewis, who announced in September he would retire at the end of this year. -
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Banks Threatened as Washington Takes on Overdraft Fees
Charges related to overdrawn accounts this year may add up to $38.5 billion in revenue for banks following last year's $36.7 billion, according to data from research firm Moebs Services Inc. That's up from $28 billion collected in 2007, according to consulting firm Oliver Wyman Group. But sneaky and manipulative ways in which banks collect [...]
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With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world. JPMorgan Q3 Earnings Lift Markets; BofA Testing New Fees; China Curbing Steel Production; Bloomberg to Acquire BusinessWeek; House Working on Regulatory Legislations; Japan PPI Down 7.9%; Pay Czar: Lower Pay [...]
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With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world. AIG Selling Taiwan Life Insurance Unit; Source: Comcast Proposes NBC Universal JV; China Auto Sales up 78% in Sept.; Whitney Cuts Goldman to Neutral; Bank of America Turns over Merrill [...]
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With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world. Australia Raises Rates; Societe Generale Raising $7.1 Billion; GrainCorp. Buying United Malt Holdings; Caterpillar Raising Prices 2% in Jan.; Samsung 3Q Profit Doubles; Merrill Bull Logo Returning; Euro Leaders Want [...]
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Hidden Traps Make Bank Stocks a Bad Deal
Billionaire investor George Soros said yesterday (Monday) that the U.S. recovery would be a slow one because of all the "basically bankrupt" financial companies impeding it. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Congress agreed Friday that the financial system – not the American taxpayer – should bear the costs of bank bailouts. Sheila [...]
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With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world. Treasury Announces More PPIP Investors; Roubini: Market Due For Correction; BofA Planning Emergency CEO Appointment; Goldman Could Fetch $1 Billion From A CIT Bankruptcy; Mazda Raising Money for Hybrids; Nomura [...]
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Boom, Bust and Rebuild: Bank of America and the Kenneth Lewis Legacy
There are many ways to view Kenneth Lewis' eight-year reign as Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) chief executive, but two seem to hold the most landscape. On one hand, the $130 billion he spent on acquisitions – FleetBoston Financial Corp., MBNA Corp., LaSalle Bank Corp., Countrywide Financial Corp., Charles Schwab Corp.'s (Nasdaq: SCHW) U.S. [...]
