Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) Monday morning reported a first-quarter profit of $4.2 billion, up fro $1.2 billion a year earlier. That was just one piece of an encouraging earnings report, some much needed good news for the bank in advance of its April 29 shareholder meeting.
Still, the positive first-quarter earnings won't keep Jonathan Finger from pursuing his proxy fight. Finger is a partner with the BofA shareholder group Finger Interests Number One Ltd., which is lobbying fellow shareholders to oust chief executive Ken Lewis and two other board members. In the second part of our interview with Finger, he says Lewis' focus on size and market share has distracted him from running the business and from retaining top Merrill Lynch & Co. talent. (For BofA's response to these charges, see the statement below). See part one here or download both at iTunes. - Suzanne Stevens
Bank of America provided the following statement in response to Jonathan Finger's charges:
"The strategic and financial advantages of the Countrywide and Merrill Lynch acquisitions will soon be apparent. We believe our disclosures for the special shareholders meeting were appropriate and met all legal requirements. The vast majority of talent at Merrill Lynch is staying and synergies between Merrill Lynch and Bank of America platforms are already producing results."
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