B of A: Now That Recovery Is In Sight, Let's Kill Pay


Can you think of anyone less qualified to make assertions on pay, and economic recovery than Kenneth Lewis? Yes, Big Bird is a good answer, it's true. In some ways we are quite surprised to see that Ken is making waves. The man is quite lucky still to be working so it is hard to imagine why he would rock the boat. And yet:

Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis, whose bank sold $13.47 billion of common stock this month, on Wednesday said the worst of the economic downturn has likely passed and that conditions will not worsen as much as feared.
"We are on the cusp of what will turn out to be a slow but sustainable economic recovery," Lewis said at a conference in London. "There will continue to be a lot of pain ... but I think the worst is most likely behind us." He projected modest U.S. and European economic growth in the second half of 2009.
Lewis, whose bank bought Merrill Lynch & Co on January 1, also said corporate and investment banking pay practices must be "reformed," with pay being tied to performance and banks being able to "claw back" pay from people who took on too much risk.

Oh, boy.
Economy bottoming, pay reform needed: BofA CEO [Reuters]


Ken Lewis Is A Movie Producer Now*

If it feels like it's been forever since we've heard from Ken Lewis it's because it has. Following his retirement in 2009, the former Bank of America CEO went underground to do some soul-searching. To figure out what made Kenneth D. Lewis tick. Did he want to want to be a CEO of another company? Did he want to get involved in another industry entirely? Did he want to grow a beard again? Did he want to be a shepherd? These are the questions that needed answers and today, finally, we've got some. No word on the beard but it appears that for now, Lewis is staying away from Wall Street and pursuing another passion: the movie business.