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BofA&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#039;s Kenneth Lewis may be voted out of chairman role at annual meeting

By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:April 29, 2009

Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis may be forced to give up his role as chairman but is set to win re-election to the bank’s board by a wide margin, the Wall Street Journal said.

In the last week, documents published by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo revealed that Mr Lewis attempted to pull out of the Merrill deal last December, when he became aware of the quantum of losses at the investment bank.

Mr Cuomo’s documents also showed that then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson threatened Mr Lewis with being unseated were he to go ahead with making his concerns public.

The bank and its chairman and CEO, Ken Lewis, have been under intense scrutiny in recent months as one of the biggest recipients of government support and for its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

Charlotte-based Bank of America has received $45 billion in government aid and additional guarantees on risky investments.

Kenneth Lewis, faces shareholder anger over Bank of America’s January 1 purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co, including the failure to quickly disclose huge losses that Merrill was amassing even as it was paying out $3.62 billion in bonuses to employees.

In another news, California’s biggest pension fund California Public Employees’ Retirement System turned up the heat on the Bank of America Corp. board, saying it will vote its 22.7 million shares against all 18 directors at Wednesday’smennual meeting.

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System also has said it would vote against all BofA directors.

The Service Employees International Union, which has its own agenda against BofA, has already been organizing protests in front of some of the bank’s branches, in advance of the annual meeting.

CtW Investment Group, RiskMetrics Group, Glass, Lewis & Co. LLC and Connecticut State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier are also voting to oust Kenneth Lewis.

Jerry Finger, a shareholder who holds less than 1 per cent of BoA’s stock, has urged investors to vote against the re-election as chairman of Kenneth Lewis, Temple Sloan and Jackie Ward.

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