(By Larry Neumeister, Associated Press) A judge promised Monday to decide by the end of next week whether to approve a $150 million settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America over civil charges alleging the bank misled shareholders when it acquired Merrill Lynch ... U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said he will decide only after giving lawyers on both sides a written list of questions he has and hearing their responses ...
(By Rick Rothacker and Christina Rexrode, rrothacker@charlotteobserver.com crexrode@charlotteobserver.com) Bank of America's board late Wednesday unanimously named Brian Moynihan the Charlotte bank's next chief executive, depending on him to lead the bank out of a recession and into a new age of regulation of the industry ... The bank's headquarters will remain here, Moynihan said in an interview, adding that his office will be in Charlotte. Moynihan's Boston ties had raised concerns about his
A well-known bank analyst has an unorthodox solution for Bank of America's CEO search: bring back Ken Lewis ... Dick Bove, an analyst with Rochdale Securities, wrote a note to clients this morning saying he thinks the embattled Lewis could return for a second act. Bove, who has supported Lewis throughout the past year, says he believes that the bank's managers and large investors also want Lewis to return ... Lewis “knows this company better than anyone else and he knows how to operate it,”
(By Stella M. Hopkins, shopkins@charlotteobserver.com) The lead contractor for Bank of America's ongoing uptown development project will be honored Monday night for its programs to help minority contractors gain expertise and grow ... Balfour Beatty Construction, with its Southeast division based in Charlotte, has had more than $350 million of projects with minority and women-owned firms since 2001. Nearly all the work has been in North Carolina, including about one-fifth of the spending for the
(By Christina Rexrode, crexrode@charlotteobserver.com) ... As a key U.S. House committee scrutinizes the role of board members in Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, an exchange between two bank directors reveals their reaction to the deal's ripple effect on stockholders ... "Unfortunately it's screw the shareholders!!" Chad Gifford wrote fellow director Thomas May on Jan. 15 as the two listened in on a board conference call that carried news that the Charlotte bank would slash its
(By Rick Rothacker, rrothacker@charlotteobserver.com) ... Bank of America's board plans this week to select an emergency chief executive who could step in if Ken Lewis leaves earlier than expected, the Wall Street Journal reported today ... The board wants this plan handy in case legal troubles force Lewis to leave before his planned retirement date of Dec. 31 ...
More than 200 plaintiffs in one of the largest alleged mortgage fraud cases in state history have said for months that they were duped into paying inflated prices for coastal lots ... Now the revelation that former Gov. Mike Easley and his wife, Mary, got a 25 percent discount from a developer named in the lawsuits shows that even the state's highest official may have unwittingly helped hype the prices they paid ... No one involved in the fraud cases has claimed that the Easleys were knowingly
(By Rick Rothacker, rrothacker@charlotteobserver.com) Bank of America Corp. is talking to federal officials about paying back part of its $45 billion in government bailout money, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter ... The Charlotte bank has indicated that it would first look to pay back the $20 billion it received in January to help stabilize its Merrill Lynch & Co. acquisition. Paying off those loans could help shed some of the government
(By Christina Rexrode and Rick Rothacker, Staff Writers) Although Bank of America Corp. reached a settlement with federal regulators Monday related to its Merrill Lynch & Co. acquisition, the legal problems stemming from the deal are far from over ... For one thing, the $33 million settlement still needs the approval of a New York judge, who has called a hearing for more information. And the settlement focuses only on whether Bank of America properly disclosed bonuses paid to Merrill employees
(By Christina Rexrode, crexrode@charlotteobserver.com) The shake-up in Bank of America Corp.'s boardroom, apparently orchestrated by the hand of government regulators, continued Friday evening, when the bank announced that three more of its directors have resigned ... William Barnet, John Collins and Gary Countryman joined the board in 2004 after Bank of America bought FleetBoston Financial Corp., where they were serving as directors. The departure of Barnet, who is the mayor of Spartanburg,