U.S. pressures BofA on board revamp

according to report by Wall Street Journal, says Reuters, via Yahoo Finance News:

"U.S. officials have urged Bank of America Corp (BAC - News) to revamp its board and bring in directors with more banking experience, the Wall Street Journal said.

"The bank has been criticized for having a dearth of directors with banking experience, and last week said it set up a committee including Massey [new Chairman of the Board] and four other directors to find new board members to plug that gap.

"It is unusual for the government to be directly involved in bank management when it does not have a direct common stock ownership stake."

Here's the list of Bank of Amerca's Board of Directors (source: Bank of America website):

Walter E. Massey, (70)Chairman of the Board, Bank of America Corporation
William Barnet III, (66)Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Barnet Company
Frank P. Bramble, Sr. (60)Former Executive Officer, MBNA Corporation
Virgis W. Colbert, (69)Senior Advisor, MillerCoors Company
John T. Collins, (62)Chief Executive Officer, The Collins Group, Inc.
Gary L. Countryman, (69)Chairman Emeritus and Director, Liberty Mutual Group
Tommy R. Franks, (63)Retired General, United States Army
Charles K. Gifford, (66)Former Chairman, Bank of America Corporation
Kenneth D. Lewis, (61)Chief Executive Officer and President, Bank of America Corporation
Monica C. Lozano, (52)Publisher and Chief Executive Officer, La Opinion
Thomas J. May , (61)Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, NSTAR
Patricia E. Mitchell, (66)President and Chief Executive Officer, The Paley Center for Media
Joseph W. Prueher, (66)Retired Admiral, United States Navy
Charles O. Rossotti, (68)Senior Advisor, The Carlyle Group
Thomas M. Ryan, (56)Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, CVS/Caremark Corporation
O. Temple Sloan Jr., (70)Chief Executive Officer, General Parts International
Robert L. Tillman, (65)Former Chairman and CEO Emeritus, Lowe's Companies, Inc.
Jackie M. Ward, (70)Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Computer Generation, Inc.

Two military veterans (Tommy Franks, Joseph Prueher), Spanish-language newspaper publisher, utility company, pharmacy, real estate investment firm, local (NC) auto parts supplier, the Carlyle Group. Nothing wrong with the board with directors with diverse backgrounds. It may actually be better NOT to have board members with a lot of banking industry experience; directors may actually ask questions as a business person, not as a banker.

The government officials seem to want to remove Ken Lewis, BofA CEO, and they don't like the board's continued support of him. Wonder why. Haven't heard anything about their displeasure at other TARP banks CEOs.

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