Bank of America investor CtW urges court to compel bonus disclosure

By Devika Patel

Knoxville, Tenn., March 12 - Bank of America may be forced to declare its bonuses, according to a press release.

CtW Investment Group has urged a New York Court to compel the bank to disclose the information, which was subpoenaed by New York State attorney general Andrew Cuomo with the support of Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

In a March 11 letter to justice Bernard J. Fried, the investment group said timely disclosure of the bonuses is essential to inform shareholders' voting decisions in Bank of America's April director election.

CtW has also said it will oppose the election of chairman and chief executive officer Ken Lewis and two additional directors.

"The interests the bank is seeking to protect by refusing to disclose the subpoenaed bonus information are those of its directors and executives, not those of the corporation and its shareholders. Full disclosure is unlikely to provide competitors with any information that they either do not already have or could not readily obtain. However, it is likely to expose board of director and management failures, including a stark failure to comply with Merrill Lynch's stated pay-for-performance compensation policies," the letter stated.

"Management needs to focus on stabilizing the bank and restoring shareholder value, not further undermining their credibility with the investors, elected officials and regulators whose support is essential to the bank's recovery," it continued.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., Bank of America has been facing repeated accusations from CtW. The shareholder stated earlier this month that it believes the bank has lost credibility with shareholders, regulators and the public.

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