Indeed, we can’t resist any banker interview split-screen with Obama. Who, we wonder, is going to get the audio feed?
The story so far:
- No one should be pleased with the salary cap. (Surprise surprise).
- No one has brought up nationalization for us yet. (Uh huh).
- Overpaid for Merrill? Well, no… not really. *Clears Throat*
- On strong arming by the government to close the Merrill deal: They said “We strongly advice you that it is not in your best interest or the country’s best interest to walk away from this deal.”
- How do you justify the Merrill bonus move: I wasn’t personally aware of the details, we were aware that there was a bonus plan, but, given the pending litigation, that’s where my commentary ends.
- “We execute better than anyone.” (Ahem).
This interview is impressively soft. No follow-ups of notice.
- Why did you fire John Thain? “I almost feel like that’s ancient history…” (That’s it? I suppose that’s to be expected).
- No regrets over acquiring Merrill? Not long-term. As soon as we can shed this TARP saddle, we will be in great shape.
- More money from the government? Categorically, no.
What fluff. Wow. “What’s the most important thing you can do to improve your business…”
Bleah.
Obama, thankfully (yes, I said that) has intervened and cut off Lewis. Phew. That was getting embarrassing.
Kenneth Lewis
Country Bank of Amerillwide (current share price having broken the $5.00 firewall on its way to $4.41) is neither a bank, American, a country, Merrill or wide. In fact, at this point, the only thing it really has going for it is the backing of Angelo “The Bronze Medal” Mozilo. Discuss.
We suppose that just by asking the question the Financial Times seems to think so. To wit:
There is a popular cry for Ken Lewis to do a far, far better thing than he has ever done. But why should the boss of Bank of America’s head roll? There are two thrusts to the argument. The first is retrospective: Mr Lewis should be punished for inadequate due diligence before buying Merrill Lynch, which lost $15.3bn last quarter and sent BofA’s shares tumbling. The second argument looks ahead: Mr Lewis has so inflamed employee passions at both BofA and Merrill that he can no longer lead the combined bank.
Well fine. If the court of Bank of American Merrilwide can vote on it, so can Dealbreaker.
Bank of America’s CEO [The Financial Times]
From Flying magazine’s eIssue:
On Tuesday night, with no fanfare whatsoever, Congress left out a provision of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) that would have prohibited TARP beneficiaries from using bizjets. No word on exactly why the provision was deleted, but NBAA, among other aviation member organizations, is delighted. In a release on Wednesday, NBAA President Ed Bolen put it nicely, saying “Congress has clearly recognized that it is important to provide Americans with strong oversight of the federal dollars in the TARP program, but that the language addressing business aviation had the potential to fuel job losses for countless people in the general aviation community.” The bill looked to be headed for approval by as early as Thursday.
We are very relieved over here. Being forced to sit next to Ken Lewis in first class (or John Thain for that matter, who would try to sell you his bag of half eaten nuts he’d already spit in for twice their retail cost once the flight attendant had left) was just not something we wanted to endure, and we just know he’d step right on our face to get into the raft if we put down in the Hudson.
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Posted in:
Bank of America
“I’m Dead Serious. From Now On, Government Issued Photo ID Required For All Applicants (Mexican Consulate Documents NOW ACCEPTED!)”
By Bess LevinYesterday, Lewis spent time at the annual meeting defending the Countrywide acquisition, and telling investors that both companies would be much more prudent with underwriting future mortgages.
BofA, So Good [NYP]
- Use the Bloomberg command
NH BLG_DEALBREAKER <GO>
to access Dealbreaker
