NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors in a class-action lawsuit against Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> over the Merrill Lynch & Co takeover are trying to collect "billions of dollars" in damages, Ohio's attorney general said on Monday. Attorney General Richard Cordray spoke after filing a 155-page complaint in Manhattan federal court that accuses Bank of America of fraudulently concealing Merrill's soaring losses even as it let Merrill award $3.6 billion of bonuses in 2008. Cordray is leading the... Read Full Story
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge criticized on Monday a proposed settlement between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> over the payment of bonuses to Merrill Lynch & Co executives. The largest U.S. bank agreed on August 3 to pay $33 million to resolve an SEC civil lawsuit accusing it of misleading shareholders by not disclosing it authorized the payment of up to $5.8 billion of bonuses to Merrill employees. About $3.6 billion was ultimately... Read Full Story
Bank of America agreed to pay 33 million dollars to settle a government lawsuit alleging it deceived shareholders on bonuses at Merrill Lynch bonuses as it was buying the nearly bankrupt firm, officials said Monday. The US Securities and Exchange Commission said it sued Bank of America in a New York federal court "for misleading investors about billions of dollars in bonuses" being paid to Merrill executives at the time of the takeover. Bank of America agreed to settle the SEC's charges and... Read Full Story
BossKitty, still sick, but could not resist this denouncing another demonstration of detachment from reality. I am tired of the clueless, narcissistic, self-important, CEO mentality. These Corporate Icons, who pose as leaders of industry, are nothing more than overpaid elitist, Oedipus complexes in over priced underwear. Hired for their ability to run a corporate ship into seas of profit, the outrageous salaries and perks they receive could fund a small country. This leads my thoughts... Read Full Story
JUST ONE OF THE FACES OF THE BALLS ON WALL STREET One of the Holes in the Government TARP: One of the Bigger Assholes on Wall Street (Jan. 23, New York, New York) John Thain, the top slimy eel at Merrill Lynch was unceremoniously shown the door yesterday by the President of the Bank of America. The Bank of America merged with Merrill earlier this month; a move made possible in part, by the infusion of $20 billion of taxpayer money in the form of capital, and $118 billion in asset guarantees... Read Full Story
Six of the 10 best-paid CEOs in 2007 in The Associated Press survey of Standard & Poor's 500 companies made less money last year. Two left their posts altogether. One saw their compensation rise. Here's a rundown of how they fared. CEOs are listed with the companies they headed in 2007. ___ 1. Larry Ellison, Oracle Corp. _ 2008 (fiscal year) pay: $84.6 million. _ Status: Still CEO. The software magnate's fiscal 2008 pay included $71 million in stock and options, a $10.7 million cash... Read Full Story
I heard about Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain's shameful display of greed this morning, but I must say I am certainly not surprised by his actions. Despite losses of $11 billion and 30,000 lay-offs, Thain is seeking a $10 million bonus. How selfish. Well, his move has prompted NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to reach out to the firm's board of directors urging them not to grant the "shocking" payment to Thain in light of the firm's "abysmal" performance. That's the problem with Wall Street... Read Full Story
It's official: Former Merrill Lynch CEO, John Thain, the man once credited with "revolutionizing" the New York Stock Exchange and Goldman Sachs, is the new most-hated man on Wall Street. Across the board this week, coverage of his $1.2 million office redecoration and his subsequent forced resignation was infused with disgust. In review, briefly: "Mr. Thain's behind-scenes-lobbying for his own bonus turned into a public embarrassment. Most Wall Street chief executives, under fire for big... Read Full Story
The taxpayers would have preferred drawn and quartered then placed in one of those old fashioned stocks, standing with his head and hands exposed outside the HQ building so we could throw rotten fruit at him. At least we’d feel better. Why such seeming post-partisan enmity in the new change era?
Let’s begin on page 43 of your hymnal where the Merrill Lynch buyout by Citigroup cost us the taxpayers about $20 billion in bailout fund guarantees.
What did Mr. Thain do with that money? Well... Read Full Story
The CEO as a unique corporate asset fallacy ignores the contributions and talents of all the other professional administrators in a large organization. These are the people who operate and maintain the functions of the day to day SG&A; (selling, general and administrative) operations. You know who they are - the people that actually cut the checks, create and execute the contracts, order the raw materials, manage the nuts and bolts of production, coordinate the temporary storage in-house of... Read Full Story
